Sunday night marked a momentous occasion for the Seattle Mariners, as they played in their first ALCS game in 24 years, visiting the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre for Game 1. This Mariners squad has overcome so much adversity to get to this point, but the job is far from over, and star catcher Cal Raleigh certainly sensed the moment on Sunday.
With the Mariners going down 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning courtesy of a home run from George Springer, Seattle was forced to play from behind for most of the game. But in the top of the sixth inning, Raleigh stepped up to the plate and took Blue Jays ace Kevin Gausman deep to even up the game at 1-1.
CAL RALEIGH CONNECTS! #ALCS pic.twitter.com/obubngM6fq
— MLB (@MLB) October 13, 2025
That is the very definition of a pitch being crushed. The Mariners star was all over that 86-mph splitter from Gausman, sending it all the way past the bullpen in right field, and this clearly became a pivotal moment in the game considering how Seattle took the lead in the very same inning courtesy of an RBI single from Jorge Polanco to drive in Julio Rodriguez.
It is in October where stars are truly made of, and Raleigh, he of the 62 total home runs this year (regular season and postseason combined), is showing that he's not just a regular-season merchant.
Raleigh is in the middle of a historic season for a catcher, and he doesn't appear to be slowing down any time soon. The Mariners have gotten this far thanks in large part to his MVP-caliber contributions, and Seattle will look forward to getting more of these from their star catcher as they press on and look to win their first World Series title in franchise history.
Mariners' Jorge Polanco continues to be Seattle's Mr. October
This Mariners squad certainly looks like it can beat any team at the moment, as their pitching has been downright incredible for most of the postseason. But a good pitching staff can only be as great as the run support they get, and Seattle, despite not having the best offense thus far in the postseason, has come up huge when it matters the most.
No other Mariner, however, has been more clutch than Polanco. Polanco homered off of Tarik Skubal twice in Game 2 of the ALDS, drove in the walk-off run in Game 5 of the ALDS and now, in Game 1 of the ALCS against the Blue Jays, he drove in the go-ahead run and added further to his RBI tally, hitting a run-scoring single in the eighth to extend their lead to two.
The Mariners are currently leading the Blue Jays, 3-1, heading into the bottom of the ninth inning in Game 1 of the 2025 ALCS.
The post Mariners' Cal Raleigh ties ALCS Game 1 with 62nd HR vs. Kevin Gausman appeared first on ClutchPoints.
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