SEATTLE – At long last, the Emerald City has a reason to roar in the American League Championship Series. After two flat performances on their home turf, the Mariners finally delivered one for the T-Mobile Park faithful.
With Seattle down to its final six outs, Cal Raleigh launched a game-tying solo home run and Eugenio Suárez got out the rye bread and mustard with an opposite-field grand slam, fueling Seattle’s 6-2 victory over the Blue Jays in Friday’s Game 5.
The Mariners not only notched their first home ALCS victory since 2000, but they have regained control of this heavyweight matchup, now standing one win from the first World Series appearance in franchise history.
“This is the biggest home run of my career,” Suárez said. “Like I said, this has got to be the biggest home run of my career. I’ve been waiting for this for a long time. It’s been a while to have a game like this like today. It was awesome to hit that grand slam to give a win for my team, my fans — they’ve been here supporting us all season long. Nobody said it’s gonna be easy. You’ve got to fight, you’ve got to not quit. I locked in, tried to drive one in, and God is good, I drove in four.”
Raleigh’s homer came on the third pitch he saw from Brendon Little, a 93.5 mph sinker that the switch-hitting backstop swatted high down the left-field line. It was Raleigh’s fourth blast of the postseason after a regular season in which the switch-hitting MVP candidate belted 60.
“I was just looking for something in the middle of the plate and was able to get good bat to ball to it,” Raleigh said. “I thought I got it good. Obviously hit it really high. You never know in this building. Luckily today the roof is closed. We’ll take it.”
Two walks and a hit-by-pitch followed before Suárez crushed a Seranthony Domínguez four-seamer to right field. Suarez joined Edgar Martinez (1995 ALDS Game 4) as the only Mariners to connect for postseason grand slams.
In any best-of-seven postseason series tied 2-2, the team that has won Game 5 has also gone on to win the series 46 of 67 times (68.9%). In series with the current 2-3-2 format, teams winning Game 5 at home – to take a 3-2 lead out on the road – have won the series 20 of 33 times (60.6%).
Seattle had fallen behind in the sixth inning on Ernie Clement’s run-scoring single, scoring Alejandro Kirk from second base on a liner to right field off Bryan Woo. It marked the first time all year that Kirk had scored from second on a single: every other time, he’d seen a stop sign at third.
Kevin Gausman shone in a rematch of the Game 1 starters, outpitching Bryce Miller, who was lifted after just four-plus innings and 56 pitches.
Gausman allowed only Suárez’s second-inning solo homer before settling in to toss 5 2/3 frames behind his trademark fastball-splitter mix.
The Mariners enjoyed a miraculous escape from a bases-loaded, none-out jam in the fourth inning. Raleigh smothered an Ernie Clement tapper, touched his back foot on home for a forceout, then fired a strike to first base to complete a double play.
But Miller’s outing was done after Addison Barger’s leadoff hit in the fifth, handing the ball to manager Dan Wilson in a move ripe for second-guessing. Facing Matt Brash, George Springer ripped a run-scoring two-out double to left-center field, pumping both arms at second base and yelling, “Let’s go!”
Woo, making his first appearance since Sept. 19 due to pectoral inflammation, took over in the sixth. His return was rocky: Kirk greeted him with a first-pitch double, then came home moments later on Clement’s single as Dominic Canzone’s throw from right field veered up the line.
It was a rude welcome for the first relief appearance of Woo’s career – his most recent trot from the bullpen came at Cal Poly back in 2021.
Springer exited for a pinch-runner after being hit in the right knee by a Woo fastball in the seventh inning; in obvious discomfort, Springer initially attempted to remain in the game, but was lifted when he struggled to jog on the grass past first base.
The ALCS now returns to Canada, with Game 6 scheduled to be played at Rogers Centre on Sunday evening.
“We’re excited for the opportunity,” Raleigh said. “It’s a great opportunity for us. We know that we still have a tough ballclub on the other side, so we’re not taking anything for granted. We’ve still got a lot of work to do. We’ve just got to come ready for the next game.”
