After wrapping up the ALDS two days ago and three time zones away, the battle-worn Seattle Mariners went to Toronto and wrestled Game 1 of the ALCS away from the rested Blue Jays on Sunday night (SEA 3, TOR 1). Bryce Miller threw six terrific innings on short rest and MVP candidate Cal Raleigh hit a home run as part of a sixth inning rally that turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead.
The old saying is that the visiting team should be happy splitting the first two games on the road, and the Mariners have secured at least that. Now they can get greedy and try to take a 2-0 series lead before returning home. Historically, teams that win Game 1 of a best-of-seven have gone on to win the series 65% of the time. A nice head start, the Mariners have given themselves.
The Mariners are three wins away from the first World Series berth in franchise history. Here now are four takeaways from Seattle's Game 1 win.
1. Springer's early dinger
For the fourth time in five games this postseason, the Blue Jays scored in the first inning. George Springer sent Bryce Miller's first pitch of Game 1 over the right-center field wall for a leadoff home run. Springer reached out and drove a 97 mph heater the other way. This is the first ever leadoff home run in Blue Jays' postseason history:
The homer moves Springer into sole possession of fifth place on the career postseason home run leaderboard, trailing only Manny Ramirez (29), Jose Altuve (27), Kyle Schwarber (23), and Bernie Williams (22). Schwarber, in the 2023 NLCS against the Diamondbacks, was the last player to hit a first-pitch homer in Game 1 of a playoff series.
The 36-year-old Springer had a monster bounce-back season this year, hitting .309/.399/.560 with 32 home runs in 140 games. He can't play the field much these days, but the bat is plenty good enough to DH. Springer's resurgence is a major reason Toronto won the AL East and blew through the Yankees in the ALDS.
2. Raleigh strikes again in Rogers Centre
Blue Jays righty Kevin Gausman was fantastic early in Game 1, at one point retiring 16 consecutive Mariners between the first and sixth innings. Then, suddenly, the wheels came off. Cal Raleigh tied the game with a two-out homer in the sixth inning. It was his second home run of the postseason and his 62nd home run of 2025.
Raleigh sure does love hitting in Toronto. Including the postseason, he went into Game 1 as a .300/.364/.820 hitter in 13 career games at Rogers Centre, and Sunday's homer was his ninth in the building. Raleigh has more home runs in only two ballparks: T-Mobile Park (duh) and Angel Stadium. The Mariners and Blue Jays are not division rivals, remember.
Gausman followed Raleigh's home run with a five-pitch walk to Julio Rodríguez, ending his night. That walk turned into the go-ahead run when a wild pitch moved Rodríguez up to second, and Jorge Polanco singled to left field. Polanco had the walk-off hit in Game 5 of the ALDS and the go-ahead hit in Game 1 of the ALCS. He's an October legend in the making.
3. Miller was outstanding on short rest
The 15-inning ALDS Game 5 marathon against the Tigers on Friday night wrecked Seattle's pitching staff going into Game 1 of the ALCS. Starters Luis Castillo and Logan Gilbert pitched out of the bullpen, forcing Miller to start Game 1 in Toronto on three days' rest. It was his first career start on short. Heck, only 32% of his career have come on normal rest. Miller is used to extra rest.
Despite the short rest, Miller turned in his best start of the season in Game 1, holding the Blue Jays to Springer's leadoff home run in six innings. He retired 13 in a row at one point and 17 of the final 19 batters he faced. It was only the second time in 2025 that Miller completed six innings, and he did it on only 76 pitches. The Mariners could not have asked for anything better.
Miller entered the season as Seattle's No. 5 starter and he had a tough year, pitching to a 5.68 ERA in 18 starts around an elbow injury. If not for Bryan Woo's pectoral strain, Miller might not have even been on the postseason roster. He pitched well in Game 4 of the ALDS, but still went only 4 ⅓ innings on 55 pitches because the Mariners kept him on a short leash.
Given the stakes -- on the road in a hostile environment with a tired bullpen behind him -- Miller turned in one of the greatest pitching performances in Mariners' history in Game 1. Remember, this is a franchise that has never been to the World Series. To perform like that on short rest, and give the team a chance to steal Game 1 on the road, is simply remarkable.
The Mariners added an insurance run in the eighth inning and that tired bullpen made the lead stand up. Lefty Gabe Speier, who was so great during the regular season and so shaky in the ALDS, retired all three batters he faced, clearing the way for setup man Matt Brash and closer Andrés Muñoz to finish off the game. The Blue Jays had just two hits and 23 of the final 24 batters they sent to the plate made outs.
4. Up next
Game 2 on Monday afternoon. That's a 5:03 p.m. ET start. Rookie righty Trey Yesavage will start for the Blue Jays, while Logan Gilbert will take the mound for the Mariners. Seattle will look to take a firm 2-0 series lead while the Blue Jays want to knot things up 1-1.
