Seattle Mariners take ALCS Game 1 with 3-1 road win over Toronto Blue Jays

By George Ramsay, Wayne Sterling, CNN

(CNN) — The Seattle Mariners took Game 1 of the American League Championship Series (ALCS) with a 3-1 road win over the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Mariners trailed the Blue Jays in the sixth inning on Sunday before Cal Raleigh hit a solo shot – his second home run of the postseason – to tie the game at 1-1.

Making a first ALCS appearance in 24 years, Seattle took the lead later in the inning through Jorge Polanco’s RBI single, driving in Julio Rodríguez, before the second baseman added another in the eighth inning to complete the victory.

The win gave Seattle a 1-0 lead and home field advantage in the best-of-seven series with the teams returning to Rogers Centre for Game 2 on Monday.

“We’ve talked about how resilient those guys are and tonight was one of those instances again,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson told reporters. “(It was a) great job all around, and coming back tonight and getting Game 1 is obviously a big momentum shift for us.”

The Mariners reached this year’s ALCS off the back of the longest winner-takes-all playoff game in MLB history on Friday, dramatically defeating the Detroit Tigers 3-2 in a four-hour, 58-minute contest.

Arriving in Toronto after a long day of travel, Seattle was dealt an early blow against the Blue Jays when George Springer homered Bryce Miller’s first pitch – the first time that a Toronto player has ever hit a leadoff home run in the postseason, per MLB.com.

However, Miller recovered from the setback to pitch six innings and give up two hits and no more runs.

“The job that Bryce Miller did tonight was phenomenal,” said Wilson. “Coming back on short rest and getting behind early there with the first pitch of the game … After that first inning, he went into a different gear and you saw him getting ahead, using all his stuff.”

A series victory over the Blue Jays would see the Mariners reach the World Series for the first time, while Toronto is aiming to make the Fall Classic for the first time since 1993.

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