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

Pitching Dominance on Display

George Springer homered on the opening delivery from Miller, who then escaped a two-on jam in a 27-delivery first inning. Anthony Santander hit a single in the second for Toronto’s only other hit, and Seattle pitchers retired 23 of the Blue Jays’ final 24 batters. Miller, Gabe Speier, Matt Brash and Andrés Muñoz joined forces to throw just 100 deliveries less than 48 hours after the Seattle team needed 209 pitches to outplay the Tigers over 15 frames.

Crucial Batting Plays

Raleigh, who led the major leagues with 60 homers, tied the score in the sixth with his ninth homer in 14 appearances at the Toronto ballpark. 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. “Pitchers came out today, extremely impressive. They were outstanding. Especially short rest and how many pitches they threw the previous game.”

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

Historic Achievements

The Mariners, the only MLB team to never host a World Series game, held Toronto to two hits after the Blue Jays had 50 hits and 34 runs in their four-game playoff series against the Yankees. Miller, who earned the win, struck out three and walked three in six innings, throwing 72 deliveries. The bullpen trio each had perfect 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, placing him alone in fifth position on the all-time list. Raleigh’s homer was his fourth in 15 at-bats against Kevin Gausman, who took the loss.

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

Notable Contest Moments

Eugenio Suárez doubled off the top of the right-field wall in the seventh against Louis Varland. The 395-foot hit would have been a home run in half of MLB stadiums, including Seattle.

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