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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 Blue Jays 3-1 Sunday night as they returned to the AL Championship Series for the initial occasion in 24 years.

Defensive Mastery on Display

George Springer homered on the first pitch from Miller, who then escaped a two-on jam in a 27-delivery opening frame. Anthony Santander singled in the second inning for Toronto’s sole additional hit, and Seattle 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 Mariners needed 209 throws to outplay Detroit over 15 innings.

Crucial Offensive Moments

Raleigh, who led the major leagues with 60 homers, evened the game in the sixth with his ninth homer in 14 games at Rogers Centre. Kevin Gausman had previously kept batters hitless on splitters in the postseason before the homer by Raleigh.

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

“We are a resilient squad, you know, from top to bottom,” Raleigh said. “Our pitchers performed today, really, really impressed us. They did awesome. Particularly on short rest and the high pitch count the other day.”

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

Record Achievements

Seattle, the only MLB team to not have hosted a World Series 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, who earned the win, struck out three and walked three in six frames, throwing 72 pitches. The three relievers each had 1-2-3 innings, with Muñoz securing the save.

“This is going to be a hard-fought series, for sure,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider commented. “Our team will be prepared for it.”

Springer's 21st playoff homer ended a tie with the Yankees’ Derek Jeter, moving him into sole possession of fifth place on the all-time list. Raleigh's home run was his fourth in 15 at-bats against Gausman, who took the loss.

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

Memorable Game Highlights

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