Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Eugenio Suarez belted a go-ahead grand slam in the eighth inning to lift the Seattle Mariners to a 6-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays and within one win of reaching a first World Series on Friday. Mariners slugger Cal Raleigh — who led Major League Baseball with 60 home runs — opened the eighth with a towering solo homer that tied it at 2-2. Jays relief pitcher Brendon Little then walked two and reliever Seranthony Dominguez hit Randy Arozarena to load the bases. Suarez stepped up with his second home run of the night — a 351-foot blast off a 98-mph fastball into the left field seats.
“This has got to be the biggest home run of my career,” said Suarez, who fell behind in the count by two strikes before turning on the sixth pitch he saw from Dominguez. “It’s been a while since I had a game like this today,” he said. “It’s awesome to be able to hit that grand slam there and give a win to my team, to the fans.”
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The Mariners, the only active MLB franchise never to reach the World Series, took a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven American League Championship Series and will try to close it out on Sunday in Toronto — where they won the first two games of the series before dropping the next two at home.
For the second straight game, the Mariners had taken the lead on a second-inning solo home run, this one by Suarez. Seattle were still up 1-0 when Mariners manager Dan Wilson opted to lift starting pitcher Bryce Miller after he gave up a single to Addison Barger to open the fifth. The move backfired when reliever Matt Brash then gave up a two-out double to George Springer that scored Barger. Brash then walked Nathan Lukes, but struck out Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to end the frame with the score tied 1-1.
The Blue Jays seized the lead in the top of the sixth when Alejandro Kirk led off with a double. Ernie Clement smacked a single to right field and Kirk came around to score — the first time this year Kirk scored from second base on a single. The Blue Jays lost top offensive threat Springer in the top of the seventh when a pitch got away from Bryan Woo and struck Springer hard in the right kneecap. He crashed to the dirt and after several minutes on the ground tried to take first base before hobbling off under his own power.
The winner of the series will face either the Los Angeles Dodgers or Milwaukee Brewers in the World Series. The Dodgers were trying to finish off a four-game sweep in the National League Championship Series in Los Angeles on Friday.
© 2024 AFP
