TORONTO – Two nights after a 15-inning classic punched their ticket into the next round, the Mariners dug deep to find more late magic, shrugging off a cross-country flight and their weary bullpen to stun the Blue Jays in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series.
Cal Raleigh launched a game-tying home run in the sixth inning and Jorge Polanco ripped a pair of run-scoring singles, silencing a raucous Rogers Centre crowd and lifting Seattle to a 3-1 victory on Sunday evening.
“Everybody was loose; we were just hanging out and enjoying it,” Raleigh said. “We knew we had our hands full today. That’s what it’s like in playoff baseball.”
Bryce Miller delivered a gritty six-inning outing on short rest, extending the Mariners’ October surge while reigniting echoes of their 2022 Wild Card Series comeback in this same park -- a message that Seattle’s hunt for its first World Series berth is gathering real momentum.
“It feels great,” Miller said. “The year personally didn’t go how I had planned and how I had hoped for, but we’re in the ALCS. I got to go out there and set the tone. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
In postseason history, teams winning Game 1 in any best-of-seven series have gone on to take that series 126 of 194 times (64.9%). In series with the current 2-3-2 format, teams winning Game 1 on the road have gone on to take that series 40 of 71 times (56.3%).
“This is going to be a hard-fought series, man,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “These guys will be ready for it.”
Facing Kevin Gausman and his signature splitter, Seattle squandered a scoring opportunity in the first inning, as third baseman Addison Barger threw home on a Polanco fielder’s choice, with Raleigh sliding into a tag from catcher Alejandro Kirk.
That seemed to loom large when George Springer hammered Miller’s first pitch, a 97.3 mph four-seamer, into the right-field seats -- a new series and the same story for the Blue Jays, who took their power to a new level by producing 34 runs in their four-game ALDS showdown against the Yankees.
Springer raised his left index finger and pointed into the seats after crossing home plate, savoring the first leadoff homer ever hit by a Blue Jay in a postseason game. It was the first leadoff homer on the first pitch of Game 1 of a playoff series since the Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber in the 2023 NLCS.
“I was just looking for something to hit,” Springer said. “It wasn’t anything specific, just looking for something to hit and hopefully not miss it.”
But Miller recovered after a shaky 27-pitch first inning that featured hard contact, a 12-pitch battle with Nathan Lukes (who later exited with a bruised right knee) and raised concern about a short outing.
Wilson said his hope was to have Miller complete four innings, a plan Miller hadn’t been briefed on as he entered what he called “the biggest start of my career so far.”
Miller exceeded expectations, flipping the script as he and Gausman traded zeros into the middle of the contest. Gausman needed just four pitches to navigate the fifth inning, but Seattle got to the veteran right-hander in the sixth.
After fanning Randy Arozarena to open the inning – the 15th consecutive out recorded by Gausman -- Raleigh dug out an 86.2 mph splitter that hushed the crowd.
“I just choked up and wasn’t trying to do too much,” Raleigh said. “I was just trying to get the bat on the ball and put something in play. I was able to put good wood on it. He’s a really tough pitcher.”
Gausman put his hands on his head and screamed in anguish; Raleigh tossed the bat aside and began a home run trot he’s now taken 62 times this year (60 in the regular season).
“It was really one pitch,” Gausman said. “He’s a really good hitter, and I got him out on [the splitter] earlier. In that spot, it was probably a little too good of a pitch. I was trying to bounce it.”
It was Raleigh’s ninth homer in 14 career games at Rogers Centre, and the fourth of his career against Gausman (first in postseason).
“At this point, anytime he’s at the plate, you think there’s a chance he might send one,” Miller said.
Gausman exited after issuing a walk to Julio Rodríguez, who advanced when Brandon Little bounced a wild pitch to the backstop. As he did in the ALDS clincher against the Tigers, Polanco delivered the go-ahead hit, this time mashing a clean single to left field that gave Seattle the lead.
“I just want to keep everything simple. Don’t try to get too big in the moment,” Polanco said.
Pitching on three days’ rest for the first time in his career, Miller picked a most opportune time to deliver his sharpest outing of the season, limiting Toronto to two hits in a 76-pitch effort, walking three and striking out three.
“He knows who he is,” said Logan Gilbert, who will start Game 2 for Seattle. “He’s at his best when he’s really loose and relaxed and confident.”
The Mariners added an insurance run in the eighth, capitalizing on Seranthony Domínguez’s spotty control. Arozarena walked, then stole twice and came home on Polanco’s second run-scoring hit of the game.
Andrés Muñoz worked the ninth inning for the save as Seattle’s bullpen combined for three scoreless frames on just 24 total pitches.
“We know that every pitch is important this time of year,” Raleigh said. “I think everybody has got that little extra fuel coming here and anywhere really in the playoffs. It's just that much more fun.”