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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.

Defensive Mastery on Show

George Springer launched a homer on the opening delivery from Miller, who then escaped a two-on jam in a 27-delivery opening frame. Anthony Santander hit a single in the second inning for Toronto’s sole additional hit, and Seattle pitchers retired 23 out of the final 24 Toronto hitters. The pitching quartet joined forces to throw just 100 deliveries less than 48 hours after the Mariners needed 209 pitches to outplay Detroit over 15 innings.

Crucial Offensive Plays

Raleigh, who led the major leagues with 60 homers, evened the game in the sixth inning with his ninth homer 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 hit a go-ahead single later in the inning and added an run-scoring single in the eighth.

“We are a resilient squad, as you know, one through nine,” Raleigh said. “Our pitchers performed today, extremely impressive. They did awesome. Particularly on short rest and how many pitches they threw the other day.”

Seattle, the AL West titleholder traveled to AL East winner Toronto on Saturday after a 3-2 win at home over the Detroit Tigers to win the Division Series in the longest winner-take-all game in MLB history.

Historic Accomplishments

The Mariners, the only MLB team to not have hosted a World Series game, held Toronto to two hits after the Toronto squad had 50 hits and 34 runs in their four-game Division Series against the Yankees. Miller, who earned the win, fanned three and issued three walks 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. “Our team will be prepared for it.”

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

Polanco, the hero of Friday's game, singled against Brendon Little to drive in Rodríguez, who was walked by Gausman. Polanco later added another run-scoring hit against Domínguez.

Memorable Game Highlights

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

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.