SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners entered Game 5 of the American League Championship Series against the Toronto Blue Jays in Friday in desperate need of a momentum shift in their favor.

The Mariners took the first two games of the best-of-seven series in Toronto before the Blue Jays took the following pair of contests at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.

Friday was the Mariners' last game of the series in Seattle before returning to Rogers Centre in Toronto for Game 6 and (if necessary) Game 7.

Entering the bottom of the eighth inning Friday, Seattle trailed Toronto 2-1. Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh tied the game 2-2 with a solo home run to left field.

After a pair of walks and a hit by pitch, Seattle third baseman Eugenio Suarez stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and no outs.

Suarez hit a go-ahead, opposite-field home run to right field that gave the Mariners a 6-2 lead — the eventual final.

The slam gave Seattle a 3-2 lead in the ALCS, and placed Suarez in elite company.

Suarez became the seventh players in MLB history to hit a go-ahead grand slam in the postseason in the eighth inning or later.

The other six players to accomplish that feat are: Mariners legend and National Baseball Hall of Famer Edgar Martinez (1995), Edgardo Alfonzo for the New York Mets (1999), Nelson Cruz for the Texas Rangers (2011), Miguel Montero for the Chicago Cubs (2016), Howie Kendrick for the Washington Nationals (2019) and Freddie Freeman for the Los Angeles Dodgers (2024).

Suarez finished the game 2-for-3 with two runs, two home runs and five RBIs. He hit a solo home run in the bottom of the third earlier in the game to give Seattle a 1-0 lead.

Suarez and the Mariners will look to clinch their first berth to the World Series in franchise history in Game 6 of the ALCS at 5:03 p.m. PT on Sunday at Rogers Centre in Toronto.

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