Cal Raleigh sparks eighth-inning meltdown; Suárez’s grand slam flips script—Toronto now on the brink
SEATTLE — For seven nail-biting innings this one felt like a tightrope act the Blue Jays would finish with a flourish. Up a run heading to the late frames, Toronto looked a win away from punching a World Series ticket… and then the bottom of the eighth happened.
Cue the chaos. Mariners MVP candidate Cal Raleigh ambushed the first mistake he saw from Brendon Little, launching a game-tying blast. Two walks later and a hit-by-pitch from Seranthony Domínguez, Eugenio Suárez detonated T-Mobile Park with a grand slam—his second homer of the night—and Seattle flipped the game on its head.
How We Got There
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A pitcher’s duel early: Kevin Gausman and Louis Varland traded zeros, with Seattle’s only damage through seven a Suárez solo shot.
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Jays scratch and claw: George Springer ripped a two-out, game-tying RBI double in the fifth. In the sixth, Ernie Clement—after a bases-loaded GIDP in the fourth—redeemed himself with a go-ahead RBI single to score Alejandro Kirk.
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The eighth-inning gamble: Toronto turned to Little to face a pair of switch-hitters—Raleigh and Jorge Polanco—who feast on lefties. Raleigh tied it, Little walked two, Domínguez plunked Randy Arozarena, and Suárez did the rest with the knockout swing.
It goes in the book as the Jays’ first blown save of the postseason, and it couldn’t have come at a worse time.
The Springer Scare
Adding salt to the wound, Springer exited after taking a Bryan Woo fastball off the right knee in the seventh. X-rays were negative, and manager John Schneider said Springer would need to be “really, really hurt” to miss Sunday’s Game 6. Further testing awaits back in Toronto.
The Vibe Check
Down 0–2 arriving in Seattle, the Jays roared back into the series… and now the pendulum has swung hard the other way. The Mariners look alive, the Jays look wobbly, and Toronto’s margin for error is officially zero.
What’s Next
Toronto heads home needing a bounce-back in Game 6—and a reset in the late-inning bullpen plan—if they want that World Series door to stay open.
