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

Pitching Mastery on Show

George Springer launched a homer on the opening delivery from Bryce Miller, who then escaped a two-on jam in a 27-delivery first inning. Anthony Santander hit a single in the second inning for the Blue Jays' sole additional 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 Seattle team needed 209 throws to outplay Detroit over 15 frames.

Key Batting Plays

Raleigh, who led the major leagues with 60 homers, evened the game in the sixth inning with his ninth home run in 14 appearances at Rogers Centre. Kevin Gausman had held batters to 0 for 16 on splitters in the playoffs before the homer by Raleigh.

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

“We are a resilient squad, as you know, one through nine,” Raleigh said. “Pitchers came out today, extremely impressive. They did awesome. Especially short rest and the high pitch count the previous game.”

Seattle, the AL West titleholder traveled to Toronto, the AL East champion 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 only MLB team to not have hosted a Fall Classic game, held Toronto to two hits after the Toronto squad had 50 hits along with 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 three relievers each had perfect innings, with Muñoz securing the save.

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

Springer’s 21st postseason home run broke a tie with the Yankees’ Derek Jeter, 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, the hero of Friday's game, hit a single off Brendon Little to drive in Rodríguez, who was walked by the pitcher. Polanco added another RBI single against Seranthony Domínguez.

Notable Game Highlights

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

Blue Jays outfielder Nathan Lukes exited in the fourth. Lukes bruised his right knee when he fouled a pitch off it in the opening frame.