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Cal Raleigh homered, Jorge Polanco delivered the go-ahead run with a sixth frame single, and the Seattle Mariners overcame the Toronto Blue Jays 3-1 Sunday night as they made their return to the AL Championship Series for the first time in two dozen years.

Defensive Mastery on Display

George Springer launched a homer on the opening delivery from Miller, who then escaped a two-on jam 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 of the Blue Jays’ final 24 batters. Miller, Gabe Speier, Matt Brash and Andrés Muñoz joined forces to throw just 100 pitches under two days after the Seattle team needed 209 pitches to outplay the Tigers over 15 frames.

Key Offensive Moments

Raleigh, who led the major leagues with 60 homers, evened the game in the sixth inning with his ninth home run in 14 games 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 inning.

“We’re a tough team, you know, from top to bottom,” Raleigh stated. “Pitchers came out today, really, really impressed us. They were outstanding. Particularly on short rest and the high pitch count the other day.”

Seattle, the AL West titleholder traveled to Toronto, the AL East champion on the prior day after a 3-2 win at home over the Tigers to claim the Division Series in the longest winner-take-all game in Major League Baseball history.

Historic Achievements

Seattle, the sole MLB franchise to not have hosted a Fall Classic game, limited Toronto to just two hits after the Blue Jays had 50 hits along with 34 runs in their four-game playoff series against the New York Yankees. Miller, the winner, 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 will be a fiercely contested series, for sure,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “These guys will be ready for it.”

Springer’s 21st postseason home run broke 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 at-bats against Gausman, who took the loss.

Polanco, the hero of Friday's game, singled against Brendon Little to bring home Julio Rodríguez, who was walked by Gausman. Polanco added another RBI single against 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 drive would have been a home run in half of MLB stadiums, including Seattle.

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