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Cal Raleigh blasted a home run, Jorge Polanco drove in the winning run with a sixth-inning single, and the Seattle Mariners defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 3-1 Sunday night as they returned to the ALCS for the first time in two dozen years.

Pitching Mastery on Show

George Springer homered 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 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 under two days after the Seattle team needed 209 pitches to outplay Detroit over 15 frames.

Key Offensive Plays

Raleigh, who led the major leagues with 60 homers, tied the score in the sixth with his ninth homer in 14 games at the Toronto ballpark. Kevin Gausman had previously kept batters hitless 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 RBI single in the eighth inning.

“We are a resilient squad, as you know, from top to bottom,” Raleigh stated. “Our pitchers performed today, really, really impressed us. They did awesome. Especially short rest and how many pitches they threw the other day.”

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

Record Accomplishments

The Mariners, the sole MLB franchise to not have hosted 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 Yankees. Miller, the winner, fanned three and issued three walks in six frames, throwing 72 deliveries. The bullpen trio each had perfect innings, with Muñoz securing the save.

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

Springer’s 21st postseason home run broke 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 at-bats against Gausman, who suffered the defeat.

Polanco, the hero of Friday's game, hit a single off Brendon Little to drive in Julio Rodríguez, who was issued a walk by Gausman. Polanco added another RBI single against Domínguez.

Memorable Contest Moments

Eugenio Suárez hit a double against the top of the right-field fence in the seventh against Varland. The 395-foot drive would have been a homer in 15 of 30 big league ballparks, including Seattle.

Toronto outfielder Nathan Lukes exited in the fourth. Lukes sustained a right knee bruise when he fouled a pitch off it in the first inning.