Cal Raleigh scored, Jorge Polanco homered with a single in the sixth inning, and the Seattle Mariners beat Toronto Blue Jays 3-1 on Sunday night as they returned to the AL Championship Series for the first time in 24 years.
George Springer scored on the first pitch from Bryce Miller, who then escaped a two-out jam in a 27-pitch first inning. Anthony Santander took second on Toronto's only other hit, and Seattle pitchers retired 23 of the Blue Jays' final 24 batters. Miller, Gabe Speier, Matt Brush and Andres Munoz combined to throw just 100 pitches in less than 48 hours after the Mariners needed 209 pitches to outlast Detroit over 15 innings.
Raleigh, who led the major leagues with 60 homers, tied the game in the sixth with his ninth homer in 14 games at Rogers Center. Kevin Gausman held batters to 0-for-16 on splitters in the postseason before Raleigh's homer.
Polanco hit a single later in the inning and added an RBI single in the eighth.
“You know, we’re a strong one-to-nine team,” Raleigh said. “The pitchers that came out today really, really impressed us. They pitched amazing. Especially the short rest and how many innings they threw the other day.”
AL West champion Seattle traveled to AL East champion Toronto on Saturday after beating the Tigers 3-2 at home to win the Division Series in the longest winner-take-all game in the Major Leagues. Baseball story.
Seattle, the only one Major League Baseball The team, which had never hosted a World Series game, held Toronto to two hits after the Blue Jays allowed 50 hits and 34 runs in their four-game division series against the New York Yankees. Miller, the winner, struck out three and walked three in six innings while throwing 72 pitches. The three pitchers each pitched 1-2-3 innings, with Munoz picking up the save.
“It's going to be a tough series, man,” Toronto manager John Schneider said. “These guys will be ready for it.”
Springer's 21st home run of the postseason broke a tie with Derek Jeter of the Yankees, moving him into sole possession of fifth place on the career list. Raleigh's homer was his fourth in 15 at-bats against Gausman, who took the loss.
Polanco, who had a game-ending single Friday, walked Brandon Little to drive in Julio Rodriguez, who was walking Gausman. Polanco added another RBI single against Ceranthony Dominguez.
Eugenio Suarez doubled the top of the right field wall in the seventh against Louis Varland. A 395-foot trip would be an excellent achievement in 15 of the 30 major league ballparks, including Seattle.
Toronto outfielder Nathan Lux walked in the fourth inning. Lux bruised his right knee when he fouled out in the first inning.
