SEATTLE — As he crossed home plate, Eugenio Suárez formed a heart with his hands, just as he has countless times.
And then he suddenly stopped, pointed toward his wife in the stands behind the backstop, and took another beat to embrace the moment. His bat had brought the Seattle Mariners within a victory of the the first World Series trip for a franchise that started playing in 1977.
Suárez hit a go-ahead grand slam after Cal Raleigh’s tying leadoff home run in a five-run eighth inning, and the second-seeded Mariners beat the top-seeded Toronto Blue Jays 6-2 on Friday night for 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven American League Championship Series.
“I’ve been waiting for games like this my whole career. Today, I had it,” said Suárez, 34, who made his MLB debut in 2014 and is in his second stint in Seattle after landing with the Mariners in July via a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks. “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.”
Suárez also homered in the second inning for Seattle’s first run, and the Mariners became the first home team to win in this year’s ALCS.