Cal Raleigh Hits Home Run as Seattle Mariners Overpower Toronto Blue Jays in Much-Anticipated Comeback to ALCS
Cal Raleigh homered, Jorge Polanco delivered the go-ahead 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 AL Championship Series for the initial occasion in two dozen years.
Pitching Dominance on Show
George Springer homered on the opening delivery from Miller, who then escaped a bases-threatening situation in a 27-delivery opening frame. Anthony Santander singled in the second for the Blue Jays' sole additional hit, and Seattle pitchers retired 23 out of the final 24 Toronto hitters. The pitching quartet joined forces to throw just 100 pitches less than 48 hours after the Mariners needed 209 pitches to outlast Detroit over 15 innings.
Key Batting Moments
Raleigh, who led the major leagues with 60 homers, evened the game in the sixth with his ninth homer in 14 appearances at Rogers Centre. Kevin Gausman had held batters to 0 for 16 on splitters in the playoffs before the home run by the catcher.
Polanco delivered a go-ahead base hit later in the inning and contributed an run-scoring single in the eighth inning.
“We’re a tough team, you know, from top to bottom,” Raleigh said. “Pitchers came out today, extremely impressive. They did awesome. Especially short rest and the high pitch count the previous game.”
Seattle, the AL West titleholder traveled to AL East winner Toronto on Saturday after a 3-2 win at home over the Detroit Tigers to win the Division Series in the most extended decisive contest in MLB history.
Historic Accomplishments
The Mariners, 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 playoff series against the New York Yankees. Miller, who earned the win, struck out three and walked three in six innings, throwing 72 pitches. The bullpen trio each had 1-2-3 innings, with Muñoz getting the save.
“This is going to be a hard-fought series, man,” Toronto manager John Schneider said. “These guys will be ready for it.”
Springer’s 21st postseason home run 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 Gausman, who took the loss.
Polanco, the hero of Friday's game, hit a single off Brendon Little to bring home Julio RodrĂguez, who was issued a walk by Gausman. Polanco later added another run-scoring hit against DomĂnguez.
Memorable Contest Moments
Eugenio Suárez hit a double off the top of the right-field wall in the seventh inning against Varland. The 395-foot hit would have been a home run in 15 of 30 big league ballparks, including Seattle.
Blue Jays outfielder Nathan Lukes exited in the fourth. Lukes bruised his right knee when he fouled a ball into his knee in the first inning.