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Cal Raleigh homered, Jorge Polanco drove in the decisive run with a sixth frame single, and the Mariners beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-1 Sunday night as they made their return to the AL Championship Series for the initial occasion in 24 years.

Pitching Mastery on Display

George Springer homered on the opening delivery from Bryce Miller, who then got out of a bases-threatening situation in a 27-pitch 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 combined to throw just 100 deliveries less than 48 hours after the Seattle team needed 209 throws to outplay Detroit over 15 innings.

Key Offensive Plays

Raleigh, the major league home run leader with 60, tied the score in the sixth with his ninth home run in 14 appearances at Rogers Centre. Kevin Gausman had held batters to 0 for 16 on splitters in the postseason before the home run by Raleigh.

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

“We are a resilient squad, as you know, from top to bottom,” Raleigh stated. “Our pitchers performed today, extremely impressive. They were outstanding. Particularly on short rest and the high pitch count the previous game.”

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

Record Achievements

Seattle, the sole MLB franchise to never host a Fall Classic 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 New York Yankees. Miller, who earned the win, struck out three and walked three in six innings, throwing 72 pitches. The bullpen trio each had perfect innings, with Muñoz getting the save.

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

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

Polanco, the hero of Friday's game, hit a single off Brendon Little to bring home Julio Rodríguez, who was issued a walk by the pitcher. Polanco later added another run-scoring hit against Domínguez.

Memorable Game Highlights

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

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