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

Defensive Dominance on Show

George Springer launched a homer on the first pitch from Miller, who then got out of a two-on jam in a 27-pitch opening frame. Anthony Santander hit a single in the second for the Blue Jays' only other hit, and Seattle pitchers retired 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 pitches to outlast Detroit over 15 frames.

Key Batting Plays

Raleigh, the major league home run leader with 60, tied the score in the sixth with his ninth home run in 14 games at Rogers Centre. Kevin Gausman had previously kept batters hitless on splitters in the postseason before the home run by Raleigh.

Polanco delivered a go-ahead base hit 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 stated. “Pitchers came out today, extremely impressive. They did awesome. Particularly on short rest and the high pitch count the other day.”

AL West champion Seattle journeyed to Toronto, the AL East champion on the prior day after a 3-2 win at home over the 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 never host 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 playoff series against the Yankees. Miller, the winner, fanned three and issued three walks in six frames, throwing 72 pitches. The bullpen trio each had 1-2-3 innings, with Muñoz securing the save.

“This is going to be a hard-fought series, man,” Toronto manager John Schneider said. “Our team will be prepared for it.”

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

Polanco, who had the game-ending single Friday, hit a single off Brendon Little to drive in Julio Rodríguez, who was issued a walk by the pitcher. Polanco added another RBI single against Domínguez.

Notable Game Moments

Eugenio Suárez doubled off the top of the right-field wall in the seventh inning against Louis Varland. The 395-foot drive would have been a homer in 15 of 30 big league ballparks, including Seattle.

Blue Jays outfielder Nathan Lukes left in the fourth inning. Lukes bruised his right knee when he fouled a pitch off it in the first inning.