SEATTLE — In a season full of MVP moments for Cal Raleigh, the Mariners’ catcher might have authored his most epic yet. And just a few minutes later, Eugenio Suárez ensured that he’ll never buy a drink in this town again.
With Seattle on the ropes Friday in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series, its all-world catcher crushed a sky-high, game-tying solo homer to lead off the eighth inning. Then, its fan-favorite third baseman upped the ante with a punctuating grand slam, as both sluggers lifted the Mariners to a 6-2 victory over the Blue Jays at T-Mobile Park that has them on the cusp of advancing past this best-of-seven round.
Yes, the Seattle Mariners are one win away from the World Series — a sentence that has never been said in the 49 years of this franchise’s existence. In their only other trips to the ALCS (1995, 2000, ‘01), the Mariners only reached as close as two wins away from the Fall Classic.
“Seattle really deserved this,” Suárez said.
Indeed, another sellout crowd starved for this ALCS stage finally got the moments it had been hungering for all week. The Mariners were manhandled in Games 3 and 4 and for much of Game 5. It has been more than 24 years since their last ALCS appearance and a lifetime of waiting for many fans, given that they are MLB’s only team that has never played in the Fall Classic.
“They just exploded,” Raleigh said of the home crowd. “They’ve been waiting for that, so that was a huge moment. That was probably one of the loudest moments I’ve ever heard here. So when Geno cleared that wall, it was really, really awesome — just so fun to be a part of.”
Raleigh’s big blast — which hung for 6.7 anxiety-induced seconds and barely cleared the left-field wall — was the Mariners’ first game-tying or go-ahead homer in the eighth inning or later in the postseason since Bret Boone in Game 4 of the 2001 ALCS. It was also Raleigh’s fourth of these playoffs — which, added to his 60 in the regular season, tied him with Aaron Judge (2022) for the most all time in AL history.
Suárez’s grand slam, meanwhile, was just the second in team history in the postseason, as he joined Edgar Martinez, the Mariners’ current director of hitting strategy, who did so in Game 4 of the 1995 AL Division Series. It was also just the seventh in all of postseason history that pushed the hitter’s team ahead in the eighth inning or later, the most recent of which was Freddie Freeman in Game 1 of last year’s World Series.
“It felt like Cal’s ball was in the air for like an hour,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “But to see that one go over and tie the score. And then after Geno’s grand slam, I’m not sure I’ve heard that building any louder than that. Again, just can’t say enough about the fans here in Seattle.”
Friday’s game was the last guaranteed to be played at T-Mobile Park in 2025. But with one more Mariners win, they will be right back here in the Fall Classic, which would come in Games 3-5 of that series — slated for Oct. 27-29 — against the Dodgers, who punched their ticket by completing a sweep of the Brewers. Los Angeles would earn home-field advantage by holding a better regular-season record.
“We know what it means,” Julio Rodríguez said. “There’s no hiding it or things like that. It’s just the reality. We can go to the World Series with one more win. But we’ve got to win the game. We’ve got to stay present in the moment.”
Suárez also put the Mariners on the board with a solo homer off Kevin Gausman in the second inning that broke a scoreless tie. He finished the game with five RBIs — second most in Mariners playoff history behind only Martinez, also in that 1995 ALDS Game 4.
But after Suárez’s first big blast — which was against Gausman’s only mistake pitch of the afternoon — the Mariners were silent at the plate until the eighth inning, continuing a troubling trend in front of their home fans ever since this series shifted to Seattle.
The Mariners entered the eighth inning hitting 2-for-30 with runners on base in Games 3-5 while being outscored, 23-7. They were out-hit, out-pitched and out-defended since taking a commanding 2-0 series lead, and they paid mightily for a few costly outs on the basepaths.
But things started to turn on Friday — both on the mound and in the field early, then obviously with the bats late.
Bryce Miller followed up his gritty Game 1 effort by surrendering just one run over four-plus innings. Bryan Woo then allowed Toronto’s go-ahead run in the sixth while making his first appearance since Sept. 19 after recovering from pectoral inflammation. But Gabe Speier, Matt Brash and Andrés Muñoz combined to surrender just one hit over three scoreless innings.
Essentially, Seattle’s arms — which were bullied on Wednesday and Thursday — kept Friday’s game within reach.
And with the Mariners’ gloves, Raleigh sparked a headsy 2-3 double play in the fourth that bailed Miller out of a bases-loaded jam, Josh Naylor ignited another in the third that doubled up Ernie Clement after a leadoff double and Randy Arozarena made a leaping catch at the wall in the eighth that might’ve led to extra bases, and who knows what else.
“We just grinded through those innings, those middle innings, obviously,” Raleigh said, “and we were able to leave the scoring at a minimum, not let them put up crooked numbers and kind of taking the little, small victories with them just putting up one run each inning. … Being able to minimize that damage and just stay in the fight in those innings and not give up that big hit was the difference maker.”
Inside the clubhouse, a new batting practice T-shirt emerged in this ALCS that reads, “Job’s Not Finished” — a mantra that the Mariners were reminded of despite winning this series’ first two games. And if they continue living by that moniker in Toronto, the ultimate prize will be that much closer.