Dodgers News: Suarez Slam Puts Seattle One Win Away from Series

SEATTLE — The ALCS tilted hard in Seattle’s favor on Friday, and it happened in the blink of an eye. The Mariners trailed 2–1 into the bottom of the eighth. Then T-Mobile Park shook. Cal Raleigh tied it with a rocket to left. Eugenio Suárez followed three batters later with a no-doubt grand slam. Seattle beat Toronto 6–2 to grab a 3–2 series lead and move within one win of an American League pennant.

This one started as a duel. Kevin Gausman gave the Blue Jays 5.2 steady innings, allowing only one run while striking out four. Bryce Miller matched him pitch for pitch on the Seattle side, limiting Toronto to a single run over four innings before the bullpen took over. The Jays scratched first on a George Springer RBI double in the fifth. Toronto nudged ahead again in the sixth when Alejandro Kirk doubled and Ernie Clement shot a run-scoring single to right. For a while that felt big in a low-scoring park.

Seattle answered in bursts. Suárez opened the home second with a solo shot to left center. That was a hint of what was coming. The Mariners did little for five innings after that, but their bullpen held the line. Matt Brash and Bryan Woo navigated traffic. Gabe Speier recorded a clean eighth. Andrés Muñoz closed it down in the ninth. Five relievers combined for five innings of one-run ball and kept the crowd engaged until the late ambush.

The eighth belonged to the heart of Seattle’s order. Brendon Little entered and Raleigh, who had doubled earlier, ambushed a pitch for his fourth homer of October. Tie game. A walk to Jorge Polanco and another to Josh Naylor brought a change to Seranthony Domínguez. A hit-by-pitch put Randy Arozarena on and set the table. Suárez did the rest, turning on a pitch and sending it to the right field seats for a grand slam. He finished with two homers and five runs batted in, the kind of star turn that changes a series.

Toronto had chances. The Jays went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. They also ran into two big defensive moments from Seattle, including a heads-up double play started by Cal Raleigh to erase a bases-loaded threat in the fourth. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. laced two walks and a double, but Seattle refused to let the inning-breaking swing happen for Toronto.

For Dodgers fans tracking the bracket, this result matters more than scoreboard watching. If the Mariners advance from here and the Dodgers take care of their own business, Los Angeles would hold home field advantage in a potential Fall Classic matchup with Seattle. If the Blue Jays claw back and win the pennant, a Dodgers–Jays World Series would open at Rogers Centre in Toronto. File that away as the NL side closes in.

One more note on the arms. Seattle’s bullpen has been nails in high leverage, and Muñoz looked every bit the stopper with a quiet, perfect ninth. On the other side, Toronto’s pen cracked at the worst time. Little was tagged with the loss and blown save, and Domínguez could not halt the avalanche. In October, that is the difference between a coin-flip finish and a five-run swing.

Series on. Momentum in the Pacific Northwest. And in Los Angeles, a clearer picture of what a World Series road map could look like.

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