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Cal Raleigh homered, Jorge Polanco delivered the winning run with a sixth frame single, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-1 on Sunday evening as they returned to the ALCS for the initial occasion in two dozen years.

Pitching Mastery on Display

George Springer launched a homer on the first pitch from Bryce Miller, who then got out of a two-on jam in a 27-delivery opening frame. Anthony Santander singled in the second inning for Toronto’s only other hit, and Mariners pitchers retired 23 out of the final 24 Toronto hitters. Miller, Gabe Speier, Matt Brash and Andrés Muñoz joined forces to throw just 100 pitches less than 48 hours after the Mariners needed 209 pitches to outplay the Tigers over 15 innings.

Crucial Offensive Plays

Raleigh, who led the major leagues with 60 homers, evened the game in the sixth with his ninth home run in 14 appearances at the Toronto ballpark. Kevin Gausman had previously kept batters hitless on splitters in the postseason before the home run by the catcher.

Polanco delivered a go-ahead base hit later in the inning and added an run-scoring single in the eighth.

“We are a resilient squad, you know, from top to bottom,” Raleigh stated. “Our pitchers performed today, really, really impressed us. They were outstanding. Particularly on short rest and how many pitches they threw the previous game.”

Seattle, the AL West titleholder traveled to AL East winner Toronto on Saturday after a 3-2 win at home over the Tigers to claim the Division Series in the most extended decisive contest in MLB history.

Historic Achievements

Seattle, the sole MLB franchise to not have hosted a World Series game, limited Toronto to just two hits after the Blue Jays had 50 hits and 34 runs in their four-game playoff series against the Yankees. Miller, the winner, struck out three and walked three in six innings, throwing 72 deliveries. The bullpen trio each had perfect innings, with Muñoz getting the save.

“This is going to be a hard-fought series, for sure,” Toronto manager John Schneider commented. “These guys will be ready for it.”

Springer’s 21st postseason home run ended a tie with the Yankees’ Derek Jeter, moving him into sole possession of fifth place on the all-time list. Raleigh’s homer was his fourth in 15 appearances against Kevin Gausman, who suffered the defeat.

Polanco, the hero of Friday's game, hit a single off Brendon Little to drive in Rodríguez, who was issued a walk by the pitcher. Polanco added another RBI single against Domínguez.

Memorable Contest Moments

Eugenio Suárez hit a double against the top of the right-field fence in the seventh against Louis Varland. The 395-foot drive would have been a homer in 15 of 30 big league ballparks, including Seattle.

Toronto outfielder Nathan Lukes exited in the fourth. Lukes bruised his right knee when he fouled a ball into his knee in the opening frame.