Eugenio Suárez grand slam carries Seattle Mariners to 6-2 win in Game 5 of ALCS

SEATTLE - Good vibes, only?

No, GREAT vibes, perhaps the greatest vibes ever experienced in the history of the Seattle Mariners.

Eugenio Suárez sent T-Mobile Park into bedlam with an eighth-inning grand slam off Toronto reliever Seranthony Domínguez that has taken the Mariners somewhere they've never been before.

One win away from the World Series.

"I have a good amount of beautiful moments in my career, but today is something else," an emotional Suárez said. "Hit that grand slam and help my team win games in the postseason, big game here in front of our fans. They have been waiting for a long time, and myself too. I've been waiting for this moment my whole career."

Suárez hit two home runs against the Blue Jays in a 6-2 victory in Game 5 of the ALCS on Friday night. Though Suárez has struggled at times in the postseason with Seattle this year, it's his ability to deliver a moment like this that validates the decision to bring him back to the Mariners in a trade deadline deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

"Even when you're struggling, you've got to keep your good vibes because it's a gift," Suárez said. "Today our vibe was so high. We know what is in front of us, and we want to take it. We're not going to quit. We've been playing really good baseball. Today was special."

Though the Blue Jays are certainly trying to prove otherwise in this postseason, scoring runs in the playoffs can be a difficult task against some of the best pitchers in the game at this time of year. The ability to hit a ball over the wall for immediate offense will always carry value, and Suárez showed exactly why nearly three hours into Friday's critical Game 5.

After consecutive beatings at the hands of the Blue Jays, Friday's swing game in the series was the tight affair you'd expect for two teams trying to earn a spot on the game's biggest stage.

Neither team led by more than a run in the game, though it was Toronto that carried the one-run edge into the bottom of the eighth inning.

Before Suárez sent Seattle into a frenzy, it was the Mariners' MVP that set the stage with a home run of his own.

Cal Raleigh led off the inning with a towering fly to left field that equally seemed like it would never stop, and also like it was going to die on the warning track just as Ernie Clement's near home run had for Toronto in the top of the eighth. A leaping grab by Randy Arozarena at the wall in left field might have saved a home run to keep it a 2-1 game for Seattle.

Raleigh's moonshot sailed over the glove of Myles Straw and into the first row of fans in Edgar's Cantina to tie Game 5 at 2-2.

"When I hit the ball, I thought I got it, and then obviously realized it went so high, and I looked at Straw, I believe was in left – and I believe it was him. But he was kind of at the fence kind of waiting up and I was like, I wasn't sure, and then obviously it got enough. So the roof open, you know, maybe a different result, I don't know. But glad I got enough of that one."

Suddenly, Andrés Muñoz was coming in to close out a 6-2 victory and a 3-2 series lead as the ALCS returns to Toronto on Sunday for Game 6.

"It felt like Cal's ball was in the air for, like, an hour," 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, just how much they support us, how they come out, how they turn out, how they give us the energy we need. Another phenomenal day from the people here in Seattle. It makes you emotional just thinking about that and just how loud it was at that moment."

It was Suárez that gave Seattle the lead in the third inning as well, crushing a Kevin Gausman fastball over the bullpens in left field for a 1-0 Mariners lead.

The Mariners homered to grab an early lead in each of the first two games of the series back in Seattle and were unable to hold on to the advantage. Julio Rodríguez hit a two-run blast in Game 3, and Josh Naylor a solo homer in Game 4 before Toronto's offense roared back in both games.

After allowing the bottom of the lineup to deliver crushing blows in each of the previous two games, the Mariners escaped a repeat showing on Friday. 

Isiah Kiner-Falefa doubled again to lead off the third inning in front of No. 9 hitter Andrés Giménez on a shot inside the third base bag that was a near carbon copy of his double in Game 4. But unlike the previous two games when Giménez delivered massive two-run home runs, the Mariners made the big play instead.

Giménez lined out directly to Naylor at first base, who was able to double off Kiner-Falefa at second on the sharp liner for two quick outs. Seattle starter Bryce Miller then managed to get George Springer to chop out to the mound to hold the 1-0 lead.

"I thought he threw the ball really good again today, being able to mix," Raleigh said of Miller. "He has to be able to use that full arsenal, and be able to locate different areas of the zone, which I thought he did a really good job of today again."

But Miller's day would come to an end after a lead-off single by Barger in the fifth inning. Wilson turned to Matt Brash, who quickly retired Kiner-Falefa and Giménez, but Springer delivered an RBI double deep to left-center field that scored Barger to tie the game at 1-1.

Miller then had to escape an even bigger jam in the fourth inning. Nathan Lukes doubled inside the first base bag to lead off the inning for Toronto. The Mariners intentionally walked Vladimir Guerrero Jr. before Miller issued a non-intentional variety to Kirk to load the bases with no outs.

Miller rebounded with a big strikeout of Daulton Varsho on a splitter to get the first out of the inning. Another brilliant splitter from Miller then allowed the Mariners to escape unscathed. Clement chopped Miller's first pitch of the at-bat right in front of home plate. Raleigh quickly grabbed the loose ball before it crossed into foul ground, stepped on home plate for the first out and threw out Clement at first base for an inning-ending double play.

"I don't think anybody could have placed it any better than where it ended up, and then for him to be able to pounce on that, touch home plate, and get then get the easy double play at first. In that moment, huge moment, bases are loaded there, with the one out and to be able to pick up that double play was huge,' Wilson said.

Brash then walked Lukes to bring Guerrero Jr. to the plate in a massive spot for the Mariners. Brash fell behind 2-0, and 3-1, in the count before battling back to strikeout Guerrero to end the inning.

"He's unbelievable," Raleigh said of Guerrero Jr. "He's one of the best hitters in the game, and he's as hot as anybody right now. So, I mean, to be honest, you just got to execute. Even if you do execute, sometimes he still gets you. He's a great hitter. And Brash, got to tip the cap to him, he made some really good pitches to him, was able to tie him up a little bit there with that sinker on that last pitch."

Wilson then gave the ball to Bryan Woo as Seattle's best starter during the regular season made his first professional relief appearance. Woo had been sidelined since September 19 when he left a start against the Houston Astros with pectoral tightness. 

A lead-off double from Alejandro Kirk on an ambushed first-pitch fastball marked the fifth double of the game for the Toronto offense. Clement then delivered a one-out single to right field off Woo with a poor throw to home by Dominic Canzone missing a chance to potentially keep the go-ahead run off the board with the lumbering Kirk scoring from second.

Woo got a pair of groundouts from Barger and Kiner-Falefa to end the inning, but Toronto took a 2-1 lead.

A two-out walk of Randy Arozarena ended Gausman's outing for Toronto after 5 ⅔ innings, finishing the day with one run allowed, three hits with a walk and four strikeouts. 

Springer left the game in the seventh inning after he was hit by a pitch by Woo directly on his right knee cap.

Woo's sinker ran back in on Springer and hit him directly on the right knee cap as he collapsed in a heap in the batter's box. After being down for several minutes, Springer tried to catch his wind and shake off the pain. However, it was obvious he was limping badly and he had to exit the game.

"He's got a right knee contusion," Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. "He had X-rays, which were negative, which is a good thing. He'll probably do some more testing tonight when we get home. George is about as tough as they come. I think he'll have to really, really be hurting to not be in the lineup on Sunday."

Joey Loperfido – who was added to the ALCS roster on Thursday in place of an injured Anthony Santander – pinch-ran for Springer at first base.

Woo worked out of the inning without allowing another run as Seattle remained down just one heading to the eighth. Clement's blast to the left field wall nearly made it a 3-1 Toronto lead, which could easily have been a decisive blow for the Blue Jays in the game.

Instead, the fly falling a couple feet shy of a home run allowed the Mariners to rally in the bottom of the eighth and move within reach of a World Series matchup with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers completed a sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday as they chase a repeat title.

"I just feel so grateful right now and feel so good because we're going to Toronto with an opportunity in front of us to go to a World Series," Suárez said.

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