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Cal Raleigh homered, Jorge Polanco delivered the go-ahead run with a sixth frame single, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-1 Sunday night as they made their return to the AL Championship Series for the first time in two dozen years.

Pitching Mastery on Display

George Springer launched a homer on the opening delivery from Miller, who then got out of a two-on jam in a 27-pitch opening frame. Anthony Santander hit a single in the second for the Blue Jays' sole additional hit, and Mariners pitchers retired 23 of the Blue Jays’ final 24 batters. Miller, Gabe Speier, Matt Brash and Andrés Muñoz joined forces to throw just 100 deliveries less than 48 hours after the Mariners needed 209 throws to outlast Detroit over 15 frames.

Crucial Offensive Plays

Raleigh, who led the major leagues with 60 homers, tied the score in the sixth inning with his ninth home run in 14 games at the Toronto ballpark. Kevin Gausman had held batters to 0 for 16 on splitters in the postseason before the homer by the catcher.

Polanco hit a go-ahead single subsequently in the frame and contributed an run-scoring single in the eighth.

“We are a resilient squad, as you know, from top to bottom,” Raleigh stated. “Pitchers came out today, really, really impressed us. They were outstanding. Especially short rest and how many pitches they threw the other day.”

Seattle, the AL West titleholder journeyed to AL East winner Toronto on the prior day after a 3-2 home victory over the Detroit Tigers to claim the Division Series in the longest winner-take-all game in Major League Baseball history.

Record Accomplishments

The Mariners, the sole MLB franchise to not have hosted a World Series game, limited Toronto to just two hits after the Toronto squad had 50 hits along with 34 runs in their four-game Division Series against the Yankees. Miller, the winner, struck out three and walked three in six innings, throwing 72 pitches. The bullpen trio each had 1-2-3 innings, with Muñoz securing the save.

“This will be a fiercely contested series, for sure,” Toronto manager John Schneider commented. “Our team will be prepared for it.”

Springer’s 21st postseason home run broke a tie with the Derek Jeter of the Yankees, placing him alone in fifth position on the career list. Raleigh’s homer was his fourth in 15 appearances against Gausman, who took the loss.

Polanco, who had the game-ending single Friday, hit a single off Brendon Little to drive in Julio Rodríguez, who was issued a walk by the pitcher. Polanco later added another run-scoring hit against Domínguez.

Memorable Game Moments

Eugenio Suárez doubled off the top of the right-field wall in the seventh inning against Varland. The 395-foot hit would have been a homer in half of MLB stadiums, including Seattle.

Toronto outfielder Nathan Lukes left in the fourth inning. Lukes bruised his right knee when he fouled a pitch off it in the opening frame.