SEATTLE – Not since Boeing’s first plane took off from Lake Union 109 years ago has a flight had so many people in Seattle collectively holding their breath for so long.
The ball Cal Raleigh launched into the stratosphere at 5:48 p.m. Friday leading off the bottom of the eighth inning hung in the air for 6.7 seconds. It might as well have been an eternity, extending the angst and anxiety of a fanbase that knows both as well as any.
When Raleigh’s home run landed just over the wall in left field, it not only tied the score, at 2-2, it gave the Mariners and their fans renewed hope that this magical season could continue.
And then Eugenio Suárez turned that belief into something tangible.
Suárez hit a tie-breaking, opposite-field grand slam off Toronto’s Seranthony Domínguez to move the Mariners closer to the World Series than they’ve ever been with a where-were-you-when-this happened, 6-2 come-from-behind victory over the Blue Jays in Game 5 of this American League Championship Series.
First Cal. Then Geno. Two of the most important swings in Mariners history, 12 minutes apart.
T-Mobile Park has never been so loud, and the 46,758 chanted “Ge-no! Ge-no! Ge-no!” as Suárez grounded the bases following the most meaningful home run of his 12-year career. The stadium shook in a way that rivals the Beast Quake as the most bone-rattling moment in Seattle sports history.
Dave Niehaus and Grandma would be mighty proud of this salami, Geno.
“I’ve been waiting for this,” said Suárez, who busted out a prolonged slump with two homers Friday. “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.”
The Mariners have a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven ALCS and can clinch their first World Series berth as early as Sunday at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.
Game 7 would be Monday in Toronto, if necessary.
Suárez, a 34-year-old third baseman from Venezuela reacquired from Arizona ahead of the July trade deadline, was already a fan favorite from his first stint in Seattle in 2022 and ’23, helping to end the 21-year playoff drought.
Game 5 will be remember as the day he entered Mariners immortality.
Stepping up the podium for his postgame news conference — joined by his two young daughters, Nicolle and Melanie — Suárez fought back tears as he described the personal significance of the moment.
“My emotions right now, it’s very high. I feel so grateful,” he said. “God give me the ability to do something good for this city, and the vibe is always going to be high. Even when you’re struggling, you’ve got to keep your good vibes because it’s a gift. 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.”
Up to the eighth inning Friday, Suárez’s second-inning solo homer off Toronto ace Kevin Gausman was the only run for a Mariners offense that looked dispirited and disjointed for the better part of three straight games.
The Mariners had been 2 for their previous 30 with runners on base and trailed 2-1 going into the eighth.
Batting right-handed for the first time Friday, Raleigh led off the inning with a towering fly ball to left field, a sky-high blast that just cleared the wall and landed in a crowded Edgar’s Cantina.
“It felt like Cal’s ball was in the air for, like, an hour,” M’s 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.”
It was Raleigh’s 64th home run this year, and his fourth in 10 postseason games this month. At 348 feet, it was one of his shortest of the season, but will go down as one of the most consequential home runs in franchise history.