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Cal Raleigh blasted a home run, Jorge Polanco drove in the winning run with a sixth frame single, and the Seattle Mariners defeated the Blue Jays 3-1 Sunday night as they made their return to the AL Championship Series for the first time in 24 years.

Pitching Dominance on Display

George Springer homered on the opening delivery from Miller, who then escaped a bases-threatening situation in a 27-delivery first inning. Anthony Santander singled in the second for the Blue Jays' sole additional hit, and Mariners pitchers set down 23 of the Blue Jays’ final 24 batters. Miller, Gabe Speier, Matt Brash and Andrés Muñoz combined to throw just 100 deliveries under two days after the Mariners needed 209 pitches to outplay the Tigers over 15 innings.

Key Offensive Moments

Raleigh, the major league home run leader with 60, tied the score in the sixth with his ninth homer in 14 appearances 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 delivered a go-ahead base hit later in the inning and contributed an run-scoring single in the eighth inning.

“We are a resilient squad, as you know, from top to bottom,” Raleigh stated. “Pitchers came out today, really, really impressed us. They did awesome. Especially short rest and the high pitch count the previous game.”

Seattle, the AL West titleholder journeyed to Toronto, the AL East champion on the prior day after a 3-2 win at home over the Tigers to claim the Division Series in the most extended decisive contest in Major League Baseball history.

Record Accomplishments

The Mariners, the sole MLB franchise to never host a Fall Classic 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 New York Yankees. Miller, who earned the win, fanned three and issued three walks in six frames, throwing 72 deliveries. The bullpen trio each had 1-2-3 innings, with Muñoz securing the save.

“This will be a fiercely contested series, man,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider commented. “These guys will be ready for it.”

Springer's 21st playoff homer ended a tie with the Derek Jeter of the Yankees, moving him into sole possession of fifth place on the all-time 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 bring home Rodríguez, who was issued a walk by the pitcher. Polanco later added another run-scoring hit against Domínguez.

Memorable Contest Moments

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

Blue Jays outfielder Nathan Lukes exited in the fourth. Lukes bruised his right knee when he fouled a ball into his knee in the first inning.