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Cal Raleigh homered, Jorge Polanco drove in the winning run with a sixth-inning single, and the Mariners defeated the Blue Jays 3-1 Sunday night as they made their return to the AL Championship Series for the initial occasion in two dozen years.

Defensive Mastery on Display

George Springer homered on the first pitch from Miller, who then got out of a bases-threatening situation in a 27-delivery first inning. Anthony Santander hit a single in the second for Toronto’s sole additional hit, and Mariners pitchers retired 23 of the Blue Jays’ final 24 batters. The pitching quartet combined to throw just 100 pitches under two days after the Seattle team needed 209 pitches to outplay the Tigers over 15 innings.

Key Offensive Plays

Raleigh, the major league home run leader with 60, evened the game in the sixth with his ninth home run in 14 appearances at Rogers Centre. Kevin Gausman had previously kept batters hitless on splitters in the playoffs before the home run by Raleigh.

Polanco hit a go-ahead single later in the inning and contributed an RBI single in the eighth inning.

“We are a resilient squad, as you know, one through nine,” Raleigh stated. “Our pitchers performed today, extremely impressive. They were outstanding. Especially short rest and how many pitches they threw the other day.”

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

Record Accomplishments

The Mariners, the only MLB team to not have hosted a World Series game, held Toronto to two hits after the Toronto squad had 50 hits and 34 runs in their four-game playoff series against the New York Yankees. Miller, the winner, fanned three and issued three walks in six frames, throwing 72 deliveries. The bullpen trio each had 1-2-3 innings, with Muñoz getting the save.

“This will be a fiercely contested 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 Derek Jeter of the Yankees, moving him into sole possession of fifth place on the all-time list. Raleigh’s homer was his fourth in 15 appearances against Kevin Gausman, who suffered the defeat.

Polanco, the hero of Friday's game, singled against Brendon Little to drive in Julio Rodríguez, who was walked by Gausman. Polanco added another RBI single against Seranthony Domínguez.

Memorable Game Highlights

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, Seattle’s field included.

Toronto outfielder Nathan Lukes left in the fourth inning. Lukes sustained a right knee bruise when he fouled a ball into his knee in the first inning.