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In the end, it was a game of nerves. The highly experienced Athapaththu, who ushered away a handful of team-mates as she prepared to bowl the final over, held hers. Bangladesh did not.

There will be plenty of questions about Bangladesh’s batting performance. They could easily have been chasing 270 or 280 with Sri Lanka looking comfortable on 159-4 in the 30th over, but instead the target was much lower.

However, Bangladesh lacked intent from ball one, scoring at under 2.5 runs per over during the powerplay, suffering a top-order collapse, and ultimately leaving themselves too much to do.

But whatever problems there are with their batting, if they had taken their chances in the field, that 203-run target would have been considerably smaller.

It took them three attempts to break the 72-run second-wicket stand, with wicketkeeper Joty failing to take a tough chance behind the stumps to remove Perera on 23 before Athapaththu survived a caught and bowled chance against Rabeya. It was powerfully struck back at the bowler, but she got two hands to it.

Perera was dropped again on 55 and 63, the latter chance going straight to Rubya Haider Jhilik at cover, before eventually being trapped lbw by Shorna as she tried to up the ante with partners falling around her.

Later in the innings, there was also a missed stumping and a missed run-out, although the latter was a little unfortunate, with Jhilik deputising with the gloves following an injury to Joty.

Unfortunately for Bangladesh, such fielding woes are far from a one-off. They’ve dropped 14 catches from a possible 27 at this tournament and boast the lowest catch efficiency (48.1%) of the eight teams.

They are a side who are generally heading in the right direction – they are playing in just their second 50-over World Cup after all – but poor fielding is a glaring problem which needs attention.

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TORONTO — Look dad, Game 7!

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his sixth home run this postseason, rookie Trey Yesavage struck out seven in 5 2/3 innings and the Toronto Blue Jays pushed the American League Championship Series to the limit by beating the sloppy Seattle Mariners 6-2 on Sunday night.

The AL pennant will be decided Monday night in Toronto, the second Game 7 in Blue Jays history. Toronto lost to Kansas City in the 1985 ALCS.

“Got to enjoy it, man. This is what we sign up for,†Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “Itâ€s special and unique, but you have to look at it as a game.â€

For one famous baseball family, it will also be a first. Guerreroâ€s father, Hall of Fame outfielder Vladimir Guerrero, never played in a postseason Game 7 during his 16-year career.

“My dad was telling me, Game 7 is give it all you have,†the Toronto slugger said.

Seattle, the only big league team without a pennant, will play a Game 7 for the first time. The winner faces the NL champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series beginning Friday.

“Win or go home,†Mariners center fielder Julio Rodríguez said. “Weâ€re going to lay everything out there.â€

Addison Barger homered and drove in three early runs for the Blue Jays, who turned three double plays behind Yesavage — two of them to escape bases-loaded jams.

That made Toronto the first team to induce consecutive bases-loaded, inning-ending double plays in a postseason game, and only the fourth team to turn two in a single postseason game.

“I knew my defense had my back,†Yesavage said.

Toronto also took advantage of Seattleâ€s season-high three errors. By comparison, the Blue Jays have made four errors in 10 playoff games.

“Balls just kind of in and out of the glove there that put a couple extra guys on base,†Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “Unfortunately, it led to a couple runs.â€

Guerreroâ€s sixth career postseason homer — all this year — tied him with José Bautista and Joe Carter for the most in Blue Jays history.

“This is what you look for from one of the elite players in the game,†Schneider said.

Bautista threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the game.

Toronto had lost its previous four games when facing postseason elimination. That streak stretched to Game 5 of the 2016 ALCS against Cleveland and included wild-card round losses to Tampa Bay in 2020, Seattle in 2022 and Minnesota in 2023.

Guerreroâ€s leadoff homer in the fifth made it 5-0 and chased Mariners starter Logan Gilbert. The right-hander allowed four earned runs and seven hits in four-plus innings.

“I thought he had a good fastball, especially early,†Wilson said. “His split was good at times. This is a tough lineup and they did what they had to do to get the ball in play.â€

Yesavage took a shutout into the sixth. He was charged with two runs and six hits, five of them singles. Five of his strikeouts came on his split-finger fastball, as did both double-play grounders with the bases loaded.

“I just believed in myself. I know my stuff plays at this level,†Yesavage said. “I know the defense behind me is going to play at the best of their abilities, and getting three double plays in back-to-back-to-back innings was huge.â€

The 22-year-old Yesavage threw a season-high 31 splitters. He got 10 whiffs on splitters and five more on sliders.

“He brings the energy,†Guerrero said. “Heâ€s young. He wants to win so bad.â€

Three of Yesavageâ€s six major league starts have come in the playoffs. Heâ€s won twice this postseason after winning one of three outings during the regular season.

Louis Varland got four outs and Jeff Hoffman struck out four over two hitless innings to end it.

The Mariners used two walks and a single to load the bases against Yesavage in the third but were denied when slugger Cal Raleigh grounded into a 3-6-1 double play started by Guerrero and completed by Yesavage covering first base. Raleighâ€s first-pitch grounder came off his bat at 101 mph.

“Underappreciated, I think, is how Vlad can play really deep because of his arm,†Schneider said. “In that situation, too, you need some wiggle room for a guy that hits the ball really hard.â€

Raleigh finished 0 for 4 with three strikeouts.

Seattle came up empty again after another bases-loaded opportunity in the fourth when J.P. Crawford grounded into a 4-6-3 double play.

The Mariners broke through and chased Yesavage in the sixth. Josh Naylorâ€s solo shot was his third home run of the playoffs. Yesavage exited after Randy Arozarenaâ€s base hit, and Eugenio Suárez greeted Varland with a bloop RBI single.

Toronto took advantage of fielding errors by Rodríguez in center field and Suárez at third base to score twice in the second, when Barger and Isiah Kiner-Falefa had RBI singles.

Ernie Clement hit a two-out triple off the left-field wall in the third and scored when Barger homered, his second of the postseason.

George Springer started at designated hitter for the Blue Jays and went 0 for 4 with a walk. Springer exited in the seventh inning of Fridayâ€s Game 5 loss in Seattle after he was hit on the right kneecap by a 95.6 mph pitch from Bryan Woo.

Guerrero was hit by a pitch from Seattle reliever Matt Brash in the seventh. Guerrero moved to second on Alejandro Kirkâ€s single and was advancing on a wild pitch when he scored on Raleighâ€s throwing error.

Up next

Toronto is expected to start RHP Shane Bieber on Monday night. Bieber allowed two runs and four hits over six innings in Game 3, a 13-4 win for the Blue Jays. He struck out eight and walked one as he bounced back from a poor outing against the Yankees in the Division Series.

RHP George Kirby will start for Seattle. He allowed eight runs and eight hits, including three homers, over four innings in Game 3.

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SALT LAKE CITY — Dylan Guenther scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period and the Utah Mammoth beat the Boston Bruins 3-2 on Sunday night.

Logan Cooley and Clayton Keller also scored and Nick Schmaltz had two assists to help the Mammoth win their third straight — all at home — and fourth in five games overall. Vitek Vanecek stopped 23 shots to earn the win in his second career start for Utah.

David Pastrnak scored twice for Boston and Joonas Korpisalo had 24 saves. The Bruins finished 0-3 on their Western Conference road trip and lost their fourth straight overall. Boston has allowed 17 goals over the last four games.

Utah struck first with Cooleyâ€s power-play goal at 4:20 of the first. Schmaltz — who had a hat trick on Friday night — deflected the puck off Cooleyâ€s back, and it ricocheted into the net.

Pastrnak countered with his own power-play goal to level it with 5:22 left in the period. His wrist shot at 5:46 of the second gave Boston a 2-1 lead.

Schmaltz picked up his second assist on Kellerâ€s equalizer late in the second. He attacked Korpisaloâ€s left side and then sent the puck over to Keller on the opposite side and Keller quickly snapped in an easy goal from close range.

Guenther helped Utah go back in front with 9:23 left after one-timing a slap shot from long distance, picking up his second game-winner of the season and 16th of his NHL career.

Bruins: Host Florida on Tuesday night.

Mammoth: Host Colorado on Tuesday night.

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Darby Allin defeated Jon Moxley in an “I Quit” match at AEW WrestleDream on Saturday with some help from an old friend, Sting.

The match was simply brutal, with both wrestlers dishing out a ton of pain.

Moxley gained the advantage, thanks in part to the Death Riders.

However, Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis then went dark.

Sting emerged with his patented bat, choked Moxley and attacked the Death Riders. He then literally passed the bat to his old partner-in-crime, who used it to his advantage.

Allin eventually won with the Scorpion Deathlock, forcing Moxley to quit.

The rivalry between Moxley and Allin dates back almost exactly a year, as Allin attempted to prevent The Death Riders’ brutal attack of Bryan Danielson last October at WrestleDream.

Allin ended up paying the price for his intervention, as The Death Riders threw him down a stairwell in December, knocking him out of action for nearly seven months.

That decision came back to haunt Mox and The Death Riders, though, as Allin resurfaced at All In back in July, helping “Hangman” Adam Page beat Moxley for the AEW World Championship in the main event.

That set the stage for a showdown between Allin and Moxley last month at All Out, and they met in a coffin match, which has become something of a signature stipulation for Darby over the years.

Allin took the fight to Moxley and seemed to be trending toward victory, but Pac made a surprise return from injury by attacking Allin and helping Mox put him inside the coffin.

While Moxley came out on top, Allin got some retribution later in the night by emerging from the coffin and a body bag, putting Moxley inside of it and shooting him with a flamethrower.

At the conclusion of the Sept. 24 episode of Dynamite, Allin confronted Moxley with the flamethrower once again, and he challenged him to a match at WrestleDream in the process.

Allin vs. Moxley was made official for WrestleDream shortly thereafter with the added “I Quit” stipulation.

Given Allin’s penchant for absorbing punishment without giving up, it wasn’t particularly surprising that he showed his grit and finally got the better of Moxley at WrestleDream.

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DENVER — Nathan MacKinnon scored twice and Colorado continued their strong start with a 4-1 win over the Boston Bruins on Saturday.

The Avalanche (5-0-1) have at least a point in all six games this season. Itâ€s one of their longest point streaks to begin a season in franchise history. The team record is 11 (9-0-2) in 2000-01 when they went on to win a Stanley Cup title.

Josh Manson also scored and Martin Necas added an empty-net tally with 2:37 remaining. The power play continues to struggle as the Avalanche finished 0 for 5.

Scott Wedgewood stopped 13 shots to earn his league-leading fifth win. He turned in the stop of the night with 13:49 remaining when he made a glove save on a shot from John Beecher.

Beecher had the goal for for the Bruins, who were outshot 38-14 for the game and 16-2 in the second period. Jeremy Swayman stopped 34 shots.

OTTAWA — Anders Lee and Kyle Palmieri scored in the third period to help the New York Islanders top Ottawa.

Bo Horvat, Max Shabanov and Emil Heineman also scored for New York in its second consecutive win. Lee added two assists, and Ilya Sorokin stopped 29 shots.

Tim Stutzle had a goal and an assist for Ottawa, which dropped to 1-1 on a four-game homestand. Shane Pinto scored his seventh goal this season, and Linus Ullmark made 18 saves.

David Perron put Ottawa in front with a power-play goal with 2:59 left in the opening period, and Dylan Cozens gave the Senators a 4-3 lead with his third goal with 1:13 to go in the second.

But Mathew Barzal set up Palmieri for the tying goal 6:00 into the third. Lee made it 5-4 with 1:03 remaining, beating Ullmark for his first goal of the season.

Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer, the No. 1 overall pick in this yearâ€s NHL draft, picked up an assist on Shabanovâ€s goal in the second. He has one goal and four assists during a five-game point streak.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Josh Doan scored two power-play goals, Alex Lyon made 32 saves as Buffalo beat Florida.

Owen Power also scored for Buffalo, which earned its second straight win since losing its first three games of the season. It was Lyonâ€s first shutout since Oct. 22, 2024, for Detroit against the New York Islanders.

Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 28 shots for Florida in its fourth consecutive loss since the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions began the season with three straight wins. Defenseman Niko Mikkola departed in the second period with an upper-body injury.

NEWARK, N.J. — Jack Hughes scored twice, Jake Allen stopped 27 of the 30 shots he faced and New Jersey won their fourth game in a row by beating Edmonton.

Itâ€s the Devils†first four-game winning streak since a stretch of five victories in a row from Jan. 7-16, 2023. That was two coaching changes ago when Lindy Ruff was behind the bench.

Hughes knifed his way through three Edmonton skaters before beating Calvin Pickard far side for his first goal eight minutes into the second period. He made another nasty move to deke and shoot the puck past Pickard for his second with seven and a half minutes left.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored twice for Edmonton, and former Devils forward Curtis Lazar added another with 1.7 seconds left after Dawson Mercer had sealed it with an empty-netter.

ST. LOUIS — Jordan Kyrou and Jimmy Snuggerud scored second-period goals, Jordan Binnington made 18 saves and St. Louis beat Dallas.

Pius Suter also scored to help the Blues win for for the first time in three home games this season. St. Louis was outscored 13-3 in its previous two games at the Enterprise Center.

Mikko Rantanen scored and Jake Oettinger made 19 saves for the Stars. They dropped their second straight after winning the first three games to start the season.

PHILADELPHIA — Noah Cates scored 2:36 into overtime to lift Philadelphia to their second win of the season, over Minnesota.

Dan Vladar stopped 15 shots and has the only two wins for the Flyers in net through five games this season as he tries to distance himself from Samuel Ersson in the fight for the No. 1 goaltender spot.

The Flyers were fired up from faceoff in the third game of a four-game homestand.

Flyers forward Nicolas Deslauriers fought to a draw with fellow forward Marcus Foligno in an early game brawl that got a rise out of the crowd. Deslauriers, his right cheek reddened and cut, threw his head back and waved his arms toward the crowd as he skated toward the penalty box.

Cates sent a thinned-out crowd home happy when he beat Jesper Wallstedt in the waning moments of OT for the winner.

BLUE JACKETS 3, LIGHTNING 2

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Kirill Marchenko scored early in the third period to rally Columbus over Tampa Bay, snapping a three-game skid and giving the Blue Jackets their first home victory of the season.

Kent Johnson scored on his 23rd birthday, and Damon Severson also scored for the Blue Jackets.

Jet Greaves stopped 17 shots for his first win of the season.

Marchenko has five goals in as many games — the most to start a Blue Jackets season — and is riding a five-game point streak.

Ryan McDonagh and Anthony Cirelli scored for Tampa Bay, which led 2-1 at the end of the first period but has now lost three in a row. Jonas Johansson made 28 saves.

WINNIPEG — Mark Scheifele scored a first-period power-play goal in the Winnipeg’s win over Nashville to become the franchiseâ€s career points leader.

Scheifele scored his sixth goal of the season 2:39 into the game for his 813th career point (342 goals, 471 assists), surpassing Blake Wheeler (812) for the most points in Jets/Atlanta Thrashers history.

Vladislav Namestnikov had a power-play goal for the Jets as well, and Logan Stanley and Nino Niederreiter also scored. Namestnikov and Niederreiter added assists and Jonathan Toews had two assists.

Connor Hellebuyck made 30 saves.

MONTREAL — Artemi Panarin had a goal and three assists as New York rallied to beat the Montreal.

Mika Zibanejad had a goal and an assist, J.T. Miller also scored and Matthew Robertson got his first NHL goal for the Rangers. Adam Fox had two assists and Jonathan Quick finished with 21 saves to help New York improve to 3-0-1 on the road this season.

Juraj Slafkovsky and Nick Suzuki scored in the opening 3:42 of the game for Montreal, and Noah Dobson had a goal midway through the third period after the Rangers had taken a two-goal lead. Sam Montembeault had 18 saves as the Canadiens snapped a four-game win streak.

KRAKEN 4, MAPLE LEAFS 3, OT

TORONTO — Josh Mahura scored his first goal of the season at 3:06 of overtime to give Seattle a victory over Toronto Maple Leafs.

Mahura beat Anthony Stolarz with a high shot after Seattle opened a six-game trip with consecutive extra-time losses in Montreal and Ottawa.

Shane Wright had a goal and an assist for the Kraken. Jani Nyman and Vince Dunn also scored, Joey Daccord made 26 saves and Mason Marchment had two assists.

John Tavares scored twice to give him 500 points with the Maple Leafs. Morgan Rielly also scored, and Anthony Stolarz stopped 24 shots.

Tavares tied it at 3 on a power play early in the third period.

HURRICANES 4, KINGS 3, OT

LOS ANGELES — Seth Jarvis scored 1:45 into overtime and Carolina extended their undefeated start to the season to five games despite giving up a three-goal lead in a win over Los Angeles.

Jarvis netted his sixth goal of the season, capitalizing on a fortunate bounce after Kings defenseman Brandt Clarke blocked Sebastian Ahoâ€s shot, scoring into an open net with goalie Anton Forsberg unable to get back in position.

Jordan Staal had two goals, Jesperi Kotkaniemi also scored, and Brandon Bussi made 25 saves for the Hurricanes.

GOLDEN KNIGHTS 6, FLAMES 1

LAS VEGAS — Marquee offseason acquisition Mitch Marner scored his first goals as a Golden Knight, and Mark Stone and Jack Eichel each had a four-point night to lead Vegas to a victory over Calgary.

Stone, however, suffered an apparent wrist injury in the third period and headed to the locker room.

The Golden Knights (4-0-2) have recorded at least a point in every game, their second-longest streak to open a season. Vegas won its first seven games in the 2023-24 season.

Calgary has lost five consecutive games after opening the season with a 4-3 victory over Edmonton.

Stone had two goals and two assists, Marner scored two goals and Eichel finished with four assists for an NHL-leading 14 points and five multipoint games. Also for Vegas, Ivan Barbashev and Tomas Hertl each recorded a goal and an assist. It was Hertlâ€s 300th career assist. Adin Hill made 25 saves.

Jonathan Huberdeau scored for the Flames in his first game back from injured reserve. He had a upper-body injury in an Oct. 1 preseason game against Vancouver. Dustin Wolf stopped 14 of 19 shots before he was replaced in the third period by Devin Cooley, who made eight saves on nine attempts.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin each had a goal and an assist, Tristan Jarry stopped 31 shots for his 22nd career shutout, and Pittsburgh beat San Jose.

Anthony Mantha also scored for the Penguins, who improved to 4-2-0 on the season.

Alex Nedeljkovic made 24 saves for the Sharks, and San Jose outshot an opponent for the first time this season but was unable to score. The Sharks, an NHL-worst 20-50-12 last season, remained the leagueâ€s only winless team at 0-3-2.

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Arch Manning and the No. 21 Texas Longhorns narrowly escaped with a 16-13 overtime road win over Kentucky on Saturday, capped by a game-winning field goal.

Despite a sluggish offensive performance, the Longhorns improved to 5-2 overall and 2-1 in SEC play, while the Wildcats dropped to 3-3 and remain winless in the conference at 0-4.

Manning struggled to spark the offense, completing 12-of-27 passes for 132 yards with no touchdowns and posting negative rushing yards. Quentrevion Wisner accounted for Texas’ lone touchdown on the ground.

Manning and Texas left fans underwhelmed with their performance on Saturday despite pulling off the overtime victory.

In overtime, a gutsy fourth-and-goal miss by Kansas allowed Texas to win with a walk-off field goal, with fans praising the Longhorns’ defense for the goal-line stop.

One touchdown in the second quarter, a field goal in the third and late field goal highlighted Texas’ offensive struggles, as the Longhorns managed just eight first downs and 171 total yards during regulation.

Heading into Saturday’s game, Manning had completed 63 percent of his passes, totaling 1,317 yards, 12 touchdowns and five interceptions, while taking 10 sacks on the season.

They opened the AP preseason poll as the No. 1 ranked team in college football before a Week 1 loss to Ohio State. A 29-21 defeat to unranked Florida dropped them out of the rankings entirely, but a gutsy win over No. 6 Oklahoma the following week helped them climb back in at No. 21.

With a narrow overtime win over Kentucky, it would not be a surprise to see them bounced from the top 25 rankings once more.Â

Texas will hit the road to face the Mississippi State Bulldogs next Saturday.

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Shane Wright skated in his 100th career NHL game tonight, doing so against his hometown team, scoring a goal and an assist as the Seattle Kraken defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 in overtime.

The Maple Leafs all night seemed to have an answer for the Kraken. Each time the Kraken scored, the Maple Leafs responded, but in the end, Josh Mahura netted the overtime winner, giving the Maple Leafs no chance to respond.

The scoring was started by Wright. Returning to Toronto, the 21-year-old opened the scoring with his second of the season and 26th of his NHL career. Wright added an assist on the Kraken’s second goal of the game, bringing his career totals to 26 goals and 55 points in 100 games.

The production for the Kraken’s former 2022 fourth overall pick started slowly, but this Eastern Canada road trip has boded well for him, picking up a point in each game. He began the road trip with an assist against the Montreal Canadiens, then scored his first of the season against the Ottawa Senators and then added a pair of points tonight.

Wright was dangerous all night, finishing with five shots on goal in 16:04 of ice time.

The Kraken have now completed half of their six-game road trip, which continues in Philadelphia on Monday.

Kraken’s Matty Beniers Off To Strong Start; Poised For Breakout CampaignIt’s still early in the season, but Matty Beniers looks poised to become the NHL’s next breakout star.

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Robertsonâ€s goal came at 4:11 of the third period, and was the second of three third-period goals for the Rangers (3-3-1). It was the defencemanâ€s sixth career game.

Mika Zibanejad, J.T. Miller and Artemi Panarin also scored for New York, who moved to 3-0-1 on the road this season. Adam Fox had two assists, and Panarin added three helpers. Jonathan Quick made 20 saves.

The Rangers comeback came after the Canadiens (4-2-0) scored twice in the first 3:42 with goals from Juraj Slafkovsky and Nick Suzuki. Both goals came before the Rangers registered their first shot on goal. Noah Dobson added his first goal as a Canadien in the third period. Samuel Montembeault made 18 saves.

The loss was Montrealâ€s first in five games, including their first three games at home.

Montreal had to recall Owen Beck on an emergency basis before the game and Joe Veleno also made his season debut after the team announced injuries to Kaiden Guhle, Patrik Laine and Kirby Dach earlier in the day.

Rangers: Despite not scoring a single goal at home in three games to start the season, New York moved to 3-0-1 with 15 goals scored on the road.

Canadiens: Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield both extended their point streaks to five games with Montrealâ€s two first-period goals. Both have eight points in that span.

The Rangers scored three goals in 5:51 of the third period to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 lead they wouldnâ€t relinquish.

With one goal and two assists, Artemi Panarin now has 32 points (8G, 24A) in 24 games against the Canadiens in his career, including 10 straight games in Montreal dating back to the 2017-18 season.

Rangers: Host the Minnesota Wild on Monday.

Canadiens: Host the Buffalo Sabres on Monday.

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It’s the Devils’ first four-game winning streak since a stretch of five victories in a row from Jan. 7-16, 2023. That was two coaching changes ago when Lindy Ruff was behind the bench.

Hughes knifed his way through three Edmonton skaters before beating Calvin Pickard far side for his first goal eight minutes into the second period. He made another nasty move to deke and shoot the puck past Pickard for his second with seven and a half minutes left.

Jesper Bratt scored on the power play off a faceoff and did so with Sweden Olympic coach Sam Hallam in attendance scouting ahead of the New Year’s Eve roster deadline for Milan. Bratt is a good bet to make it as a four-time 20-goal scorer who set a career high with 88 points last season.

Connor Brown, who left in free agency after spending the past two years with the Oilers and helping them go on back-to-back trips to the Stanley Cup Final, took advantage of a mistake by former teammate Evan Bouchard to score one shorthanded. Brown has three goals in his first five games with New Jersey.

All that came after the Devils did not have a shot for the first 11 1/2 minutes. Allen kept them in the game early and did not have to make a ton of quality chances, though he turned aside Leon Draisaitl and Boucher on a power play for two of his better saves.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored twice for Edmonton, and former Devils forward Curtis Lazar added another with 1.7 seconds left after Dawson Mercer had sealed it with an empty-netter.

Oilers: Visit Detroit on Sunday.

Devils: Visit Toronto on Tuesday night.

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SEATTLE (AP) — As Eugenio Suárez crossed home plate, he formed a heart with his hands as he has countless times.

Suárez suddenly stopped, pointed toward his wife in the stands behind home plate and took a second to embrace the moment. His bat had brought the Mariners within a victory of the first World Series trip for a team that started play in 1977.

Suárez hit a go-ahead grand slam after Cal Raleighâ€s tying drive in a five-run eighth inning, giving the Mariners a 6-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday and a 3-2 lead in the American League Championship Series.

“Iâ€ve been waiting for games like this my whole career,†Suárez said. “Today, I had it. Today, I had it in front of our crowd, in front of my family, my two daughters, my wife, and the moment is very special right now.â€

Suárez also homered in the second inning for Seattleâ€s first run, and the Mariners became the first home team to win in the series.

Game 6 is at Toronto on Sunday night.

“For our fans, theyâ€ve been waiting a long time for this moment and weâ€re here to give it to them. Weâ€re here to fight for a World Series,†Suárez said.

Raleigh, a switch-hitting catcher who led the major leagues with 60 home runs during the regular season, was hitting right-handed for the first time in the series when he led off the eighth by pulling a 2-0 sinker from loser Brendon Little.

“I came in and really couldnâ€t have pitched worse,†Little said.

The 348-foot drive rose 155 feet above the field on a high arc and had a 6.7-second hang time before it dropped over the left field wall at T-Mobile Park.

“It felt like Calâ€s ball was in the air for like an hour,†Mariners manager Dan Wilson said.

Raleighâ€s fourth homer of the postseason tied the score 2-2.

“Obviously it was really high, so you never know in this building,†Raleigh said. “Luckily today the roofâ€s closed.â€

Jorge Polanco and Josh Naylor walked, and Seranthony Domínguez relieved and hit Randy Arozarena with a pitch.

Suárez fouled off a 2-2 fastball, then hit an opposite-field drive to right, and the ball landed several rows into the seats for his fourth slam this season.

“Obviously, this is the biggest home run of my career,†Suárez said.

Suárez, who had put Seattle ahead in the second against Kevin Gausman, entered the game in a 6-for-50 slump. He was reacquired from Arizona at the trade deadline, finished the regular season with 49 homers and has three in the playoffs.

“Iâ€ve been waiting for this for a long time,†Suárez said. “Itâ€s been a while (since) Iâ€ve had a game like this today. It was awesome being able to hit that grand slam there to give the win to my team, to the fans. Theyâ€ve been here supporting us all year long.â€

Seattleâ€s Bryce Miller was pitching shutout ball when he was removed after allowing Addison Bargerâ€s leadoff single in the fifth, and George Springer hit an RBI double off Matt Brash.

Springer left in the seventh when he was hit on the right kneecap by a 95.6 mph sinker from Bryan Woo.

“Heâ€s got a right knee contusion. He had X-rays, which were negative, which is a good thing.,†Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “George is about as tough as they come. I think heâ€ll have to really, really be hurting to not be in the lineup on Sunday.â€

Pitching for the first time since Sept. 19 after recovering from pectoral tightness, Woo allowed Ernie Clementâ€s go-ahead single in the sixth.

Gabe Speier got the win with a perfect, nine-pitch eighth inning. Toronto wasted many chances, going 2 for 11 with runners in scoring position.

Raleigh turned only the second 2-3 grounded double into play in postseason history when Clement tapped the ball onto the plate with the bases loaded and one out in the fourth inning. Raleigh grabbed the ball with a foot on the plate for a forceout, then threw to first.

The prior 2-3 DP in Game 2 of the 2000 ALCS was turned by Wilson with the New York Yankees†Bernie Williams at the plate.

“Thatâ€s what heâ€s done all season long,†Wilson said of Raleigh, “both sides of the ball.â€

Up next

Rookie RHP Trey Yesavage, who started Game 2 of both the AL Division Series, will start for the Blue Jays in Game 6. The Mariners scored five runs off the 22-year-old on Monday.

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