SEATTLE – The Seattle Mariners were six outs away from a demoralizing third straight loss that would have put their backs against the wall in this American League Championship Series.

Then came a pair of swings that will go down in Mariners lore.

Salk: Game 5 win tells the 2025 Mariners’ story in three ways

Cal Raleigh led off the eighth inning with a game-tying solo home run, Eugenio Suárez blasted a tiebreaking grand slam later in the frame and the Mariners beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-2 in Game 5 of the ALCS to take a 3-2 series lead that places them on the doorstep of their first-ever World Series berth.

EUGENIO SUÁREZ CONNECTS AGAIN IN GRAND FASHION 🤯

WHAT A GAME IN SEATTLE 🔥 pic.twitter.com/9BQVmonoum

— MLB (@MLB) October 18, 2025

After the game, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi contextualized the gravity of the moment in his postgame reaction video for Seattle Sports.

“In the midst of a month the likes of which the Mariners have never seen, came a night the likes of which the Mariners have never seen,” Morosi said. “… And my goodness, what a couple swings from Cal Raleigh and Eugenio Suárez.

“You can talk about the greatest swings, the greatest games in Mariners franchise history. You saw that here on a memorable Friday night in Seattle.”

Here are two things that stand out to Morosi from Seattle’s monumental Game 5 victory. The full video can be viewed at the top of this post.

Mariners’ patient approach was key to 8th-inning explosion

After mustering only one run and three hits through the first seven innings, the Mariners broke things open in the eighth with five runs off Toronto relievers Brendon Little and Seranthony Domínguez.

Morosi credited the eighth-inning explosion to Seattle’s patience and approach against two relievers who were struggling to find their command.

Raleigh laid off two sinkers from Little before launching a 2-0 middle-of-the-zone sinker for his game-tying solo homer. Jorge Polanco then laid off back-to-back knuckle-curves from Little to draw a full-count walk. After that, Josh Naylor laid off a sinker from Little to draw another full-count walk. Randy Arozarena, typically an aggressive swinger, got ahead 2-1 before getting plunked by Domínguez to load the bases.

And in the game’s decisive moment, Suárez got a 2-2 fastball on the outer third of the plate and drove it the other way for a grand slam that helped put the M’s within one win of the Fall Classic.

“You have to credit the way that Cal Raleigh had a great swing to begin this inning against Brendon Little, who has certainly had some command problems,” Morosi said. “Cal was ahead 2-0 (and) he knew what to look for. And then the better at-bats developed from there, especially from the right side with Polanco drawing that walk. Then Naylor, left on left, draws a walk.

“Seranthony Domínguez (comes) into the game. Arozarena, again, more patience than what we’ve seen in the past from him this postseason. (And that led) to Eugenio Suarez’s great swing. … When I spoke with Eugenio after the game, he said, when I am on the ball, when I’m hitting the ball with power to right field, it changes everything.”

“I’ve been dreaming for this moment since I was a kid.”

Eugenio Suárez joined @jonmorosi to talk about his game-winning grand slam, what Cal Raleigh told him before his at-bat and more. #SeizeTheMoment | @Mariners pic.twitter.com/0uqF12TnBW

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) October 18, 2025

Pitching, defense, game management set stage for late heroics

The Mariners’ two massive eighth-inning homers will deservedly get most of the attention from their Game 5 win.

But before that, Seattle’s pitching and defense did yeoman’s work to limit Toronto’s powerful lineup to just two runs.

Bryce Miller allowed just one earned run over four quality innings. Bryan Woo, making his long-awaited return from a pectoral issue, threw two innings of one-run ball out of the bullpen to help bridge the gap to Seattle’s high-leverage arms.

And the Mariners’ defense shined with several web gems, including a pair of pivotal double plays from Raleigh and Naylor that thwarted Toronto scoring chances.

“The Mariners and their manager, Dan Wilson, in my view, did a very good job of getting the game to a point where those late heroics were possible,” Morosi said. “I was actually just fine with Bryce Miller coming out of the game when he did. He had given up some loud contact. Were it not for that great double play by Josh Naylor, the early innings of that ballgame could have unfolded very differently indeed.

“And you saw Bryan Woo come out of the bullpen and gave the Mariners two crucial innings. That was very important for the Mariners and their success here tonight.”

Game 6 of the ALCS is set for 5:03 p.m. Sunday at Toronto’s Rogers Centre. Radio coverage will be on Seattle Sports, with the TV broadcast airing on FS1.

Seattle Mariners ALCS coverage

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• Seattle Mariners’ defense shines with web gems in pivotal ALCS Game 5 win
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