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Cal Raleigh homered, Jorge Polanco drove in the winning run with a sixth-inning single, and the 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.

Defensive Mastery on Show

George Springer homered on the opening delivery from Bryce Miller, who then escaped a bases-threatening situation in a 27-delivery opening frame. Anthony Santander singled in the second for the Blue Jays' only other hit, and Mariners pitchers set down 23 out of the final 24 Toronto hitters. 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 innings.

Crucial Offensive Moments

Raleigh, the major league home run leader with 60, evened the game in the sixth inning 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 home run by the catcher.

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

“We are a resilient squad, you know, from top to bottom,” Raleigh said. “Our pitchers performed today, really, really impressed us. They were outstanding. Particularly on short rest and how many pitches they threw the previous game.”

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

Record Achievements

Seattle, the sole MLB franchise to not have hosted a Fall Classic game, held Toronto to two hits after the Blue Jays had 50 hits and 34 runs in their four-game Division Series against the New York Yankees. Miller, who earned the win, struck out three and walked three in six innings, throwing 72 deliveries. The three relievers 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 commented. “Our team will be prepared for it.”

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

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

Memorable Game Moments

Eugenio Suárez hit a double off the top of the right-field wall in the seventh against Varland. The 395-foot hit would have been a home run in 15 of 30 big league ballparks, including Seattle.

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