Last Night in Baseball: The Mariners Are 1 Win From Their First ALCS Since 2001

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Having a tough time following along with the MLB postseason? Just want to relive the best moments?

Don’t worry, we’re here to help you by figuring out what you missed but shouldn’t have. Here are all the best moments from last night in Major League Baseball:

The Mariners win again

Game 3 of the ALDS between the Mariners and Tigers took its time getting started thanks to a rain delay, but fans were eventually rewarded with an entertaining bout. Well, not Tigers fans. But they are playing with house money at this point, anyway, and can only be so upset after almost collapsing out of postseason qualification entirely.

Seattle wasted little time getting ahead. J.P. Crawford drove in a run with a single in the third inning, then Randy Arozarena drove in Crawford with a single of his own. Eugenio Suárez would hit a dinger in the fourth, and then Cal Raleigh drove in a run with a base knock to make it 4-0.

Suárez is known much more for his bat than his glove — understandably so — but in Game 3, he did show off some defense with a bare-handed grab and throw. And Josh Naylor stretched out to snag it, too, keeping the Tigers from a bunt hit.

Kerry Carpenter would drive in a run for the Tigers in the bottom of the fifth, but the Mariners would get it right back in the sixth, when Crawford hit his own solo shot. Crawford would also drive in a run with a sac fly in the eighth.

And then Raleigh did his thing and blew this game wide open with a 2-run homer in the top of the ninth. The Tigers would claw back some in the bottom of the ninth, with Spencer Torkelson driving in a pair with a double and then scoring on a later single to cut the lead to 8-4, but the damage was done.

The Mariners are now on the verge of their first American League Championship Series appearance since 2001 — that was Ichiro Suzuki’s rookie year in MLB, and he was just inducted into the Hall of Fame this summer. Julio Rodriguez wasn’t yet one year old when last the Mariners were in the ALCS. All they need is one more W, and they are in — then four more victories away from their first-ever World Series appearance.

Dumper dumped

That Raleigh homer deserves a little extra attention, because of some circumstances surrounding it. Big Dumper hit the ball right to a fan wearing a shirt that said “DUMP HERE” with the number 61 on it — meaning, Raleigh’s 61st homer of the year.

That’s amazing on its own, but said fan also had some real optimism around him. Not only did he have a “DUMP HERE” 61 shirt, but he also had a 62 variant ready to wear.

Raleigh would meet with the fan after the game and sign a bat for him, and how could he not? This is just perfect baseball.

Yankees come back, avoid sweep

The Yankees can’t come back from down 0-2 in the ALDS against the Blue Jays without winning Game 3, and they accomplished that goal. They are still one game from elimination, but they avoided the sweep, and have Cam Schlittler ready to take the hill in Game 4 at home, following his brilliant start against the Red Sox in the Wild Card Series.

It didn’t look like New York was going to be winning anything besides an early start to their offseason in the first few innings. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who has hit at an absurd level in both this series and against Carlos Rodon for his career, took him deep in the first inning to put Toronto up 2-0.

Daulton Varsho and Ernie Clement would both single home runs in the third to put the Jays up 4-1. Clement had also singled in the second inning, and boy did he earn it with his hustle.

When Clement drove in a run, it was Guerrero on base, and he had his own fantastic slide to beat a tag. Look at him go airborne for this one!

Clement would end up coming around to score, along with Varsho, on an Anthony Santander single, giving the Jays a 6-1 lead. The Yankees would start to mount a comeback right after, however. Aaron Judge doubled in Trent Grisham, then Stanton drove in Judge on a sac fly to make it 6-3. 

In the fourth, Austin Wells reached on an error by Addison Barger at third — he dropped a popup that had drifted into the outfield, that he really should have caught. Grisham followed that with a walk.

Judge made the Jays pay for those events, and tied the game with one swing. It was a tremendous homer, too, off of a 99.7 mph pitch, up-and-in, and off of the foul pole.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. would hit a solo shot in the next inning, and the Yankees suddenly had the lead, 7-6. They would add on two more before the game wrapped, while Toronto was held scoreless the rest of the way.

The Yankees still have a long way to go — and a trip back to Toronto to make it happen — but they at least get to live to fight one more day. Which is today, for those keeping score.

What a day for Judge

Aaron Judge needed to deliver to make things work for the Yankees — their pitching hasn’t exactly been up to the task, and Judge is the best hitter alive, so these things tend to fall to him. He delivered, though. He drove in Grisham early to make it 6-2.

He hit that massive homer, too, which was special for more than just tying up the game 6-6. Of the 528 pitches thrown 99 mph or faster, out of the zone and in 0-2 counts  in 2025, the one Judge hit is the only one to leave the park.

It hit the foul pole, but check this angle from behind the plate to see how much of a shot it was.

And hey, all the offense makes it easy to forget that Judge is actually a fine defensive outfielder in his own right.

The Yankees will need more of their all-around savior on Wednesday, if they are going to stop the AL East champs in Game 4.

Wednesday is packed!

Speaking of Wednesday, it has the final four-game slate of the 2025 season going for it. Even if both ALDS require a Game 5, those will happen on Friday, when the NL editions have an off day, while the NLDS Game 5s — if needed — will be played on Saturday. 

At 3:08 p.m. ET, the Tigers will take on the Mariners in Seattle on FS1. Casey Mize will take on Bryce Miller, with Mize needing to help the Tigers to a win here or else Detroit’s season is over. At 5:08 p.m. ET, the Brewers — up 2-0 — will attempt to eliminate the rival Cubs in front of the Chicago crowd at Wrigley. Quinn Priester is set to pitch for Milwaukee, against Jameson Taillon.

The Yankees will once again host the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium, at 7:08 p.m. ET, also on FS1. Cam Schlittler will try to keep New York alive and force a Game 5, and he’ll be opposed by Louis Varland. Last is the Phillies against the Dodgers in Los Angeles: Philadelphia is down 0-2, and will send Aaron Nola to the mound against Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Nola has not pitched well this year, before or after his stint on the IL, so he might have a real short leash here given this is it for the Phillies’ season if they can’t secure a W.

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