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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 beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-1 Sunday night as they made their return to the ALCS for the first time in 24 years.

Pitching Dominance on Show

George Springer launched a homer on the opening delivery from Bryce Miller, who then escaped a bases-threatening situation in a 27-delivery first inning. Anthony Santander singled in the second inning for the Blue Jays' sole additional hit, and Seattle pitchers set down 23 of the Blue Jays’ final 24 batters. Miller, Gabe Speier, Matt Brash and Andrés Muñoz combined to throw just 100 pitches less than 48 hours after the Mariners needed 209 throws to outplay the Tigers over 15 frames.

Key Batting Moments

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

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

“We are a resilient squad, you know, from top to bottom,” Raleigh said. “Pitchers came out today, extremely impressive. They were outstanding. Especially short rest and how many pitches they threw the previous game.”

Seattle, the AL West titleholder traveled to Toronto, the AL East champion on Saturday after a 3-2 win at home over the Detroit 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 never host 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 New York Yankees. Miller, who earned the win, fanned three and issued three walks in six innings, throwing 72 pitches. 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. “These guys will be ready for it.”

Springer's 21st playoff homer broke 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 Gausman, who suffered the defeat.

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

Notable Game Moments

Eugenio Suárez doubled against the top of the right-field fence in the seventh inning against Louis Varland. The 395-foot hit would have been a homer 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.