Toronto (Canada) (AFP) – Bryce Miller and three Seattle relief pitchers baffled Toronto batters to spark the Mariners over the Blue Jays 3-1 in Sunday’s opening game of their Major League Baseball playoff series. Cal Raleigh smashed a home run and Jorge Polanco drove in two runs to provide the scoring, but Mariners pitching mystified the hosts, allowing only two hits and none after the second inning.
Miller, a right-hander starting on short rest for the first time in his career, surrendered a homer to George Springer on his first offering of the night, but the Blue Jays had only one hit the rest of the night. “Can’t say enough about Bryce Miller on short rest and giving us six strong innings,” Raleigh said. “Pitchers came out today and really impressed us, awesome, especially after short rest.”
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Seattle took a 1-0 edge in the best-of-seven American League Championship Series with Monday’s game two also in Canada. The AL champion will face the National League champion, either the Milwaukee Brewers or defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers, in the World Series. “It’s going to be tough,” Raleigh said. “We’ve just got to keep doing it.”
Miller delivered the longest MLB playoff short-rest start in six years, joining relievers Gabe Speier in the seventh inning, Matt Brash in the eighth, and Andres Munoz in the ninth in retiring 23 of the final 24 Toronto batters. “I just told him to go out there and trust his stuff and let it play,” Raleigh said of a first-inning mound talk to Miller.
The Mariners, who have never played in the World Series, had not reached the ALCS since 2001, while the Jays, who won the World Series in 1992 and 1993, have not advanced this far since 2016 in quest of their first World Series in 32 years. Toronto started right-handed pitcher Kevin Gausman while the Mariners opened with Miller, starting on only three days of rest. He was the only healthy starter who didn’t take the mound in Seattle’s 15-inning marathon triumph over Detroit in Friday’s division series decider.
“We got some rest. We just kept our minds ready, tried to recover as much as we can,” Polanco said. “It’s very important for us to come here and get a win or two.” The Blue Jays produced this year’s best AL home record at the retractable-domed Rogers Centre, going 54-27, and started well again against Seattle. In the first inning, Raleigh singled and took third base on Julio Rodriguez’s single, but was tagged out at home plate by Toronto catcher Alejandro Kirk on a throw by third baseman Addison Barger.
The Blue Jays took a 1-0 lead on the first pitch in their half of the opening inning when Springer blasted a homer off Miller over the right-field fence. Miller surrendered only one more hit in retiring 16 of the next 17 Jays batters before leaving after six innings, while Gausman got 16 outs in a row over 5 2/3 innings until being tagged by Raleigh in the sixth.
Raleigh, the MLB season leader with 60 homers, smacked a two-ball, two-strike, two-out fastball for a solo homer to lift the Mariners level, and Gausman, after walking Julio Rodriguez, was replaced by left-handed reliever Brendon Little. Rodriguez took second on a Little wild pitch and scored on a Polanco single to left field for a 2-1 Seattle lead. In the eighth, Seattle’s Randy Arozarena walked, stole second and third bases, and scored on a Polanco single to create the final margin.
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