10/4/25

(Seattle, WA) Playoff baseball returned to Seattle on Saturday night for just the second time since 2001. The Mariners only got to play one game in their 2022 playoff run at home, what would be an 18-inning loss to the Houston Astros that ended the Mariners season. One would have to go all the way back to October 15th, 2001 to find the last playoff win in Seattle for the Mariners, 8,755 days ago.

T-Mobile Park was packed for Game 1 of the ALDS as the Detroit Tigers roared into town after winning a thrilling Wild Card series over their rivals in the Cleveland Guardians. Detroit’s collapse in the regular season saw them barely get into the playoffs but they successfully flushed that meltdown to earn the series win in Cleveland. Being on the road wouldn’t hurt the Tigers and their approach at the plate has given the Mariners fits in recent years. This would be the first time ever that the Mariners and Tigers faced off in the postseason.

With Bryan Woo out for the entire ALDS, Mariners manager Dan Wilson would have to piece together his rotation and George Kirby would be on the mound in Game 1. Kirby’s home stats were much better than his road stats in the regular season despite going 5-4 at and away from T-Mobile Park. His ERA at home was just 3.38 while it jumped up to 5.16 on the road. For Detroit, it would be a bullpen day but Troy Melton (3-2, 2.76 ERA) would act as their opener on Saturday.

Tigers 3, Mariners 2 (11 Innings) (Game 1)

Both Seattle and Detroit would have scoring opportunities to try to take the early advantage in the opener. In the bottom of the 1st, Troy Melton got off to a shaky start after Cal Raleigh singled to right for the Mariners first hit. He would be erased when Julio Rodríguez hit into a fielder’s choice to put a man on first with two outs. Josh Naylor drew a four-pitch walk, but Jorge Polanco couldn’t find the clutch hit, flying out to deep right to end the inning. In the top of the 2nd, a leadoff single by Colt Keith was followed by a walk for Dillon Dingler to put two on with nobody out. George Kirby then got a big strikeout of Zach McKinstry before Javy Báez hit a grounder to third to put two in scoring position with two outs. Kirby painted the inside corner to get Parker Meadows looking to escape the jam and keep this one scoreless.

Gleyber Torres hit a double in the 3rd, but never left second base as we moved to the 4th still 0-0. In the home half, Julio Rodríguez led off the inning against Melton who challenged Julio at the top of the zone with a 2-2 fastball. J-Rod was ready for it and drove it out to center for his first career postseason home run. It was the first time that the M’s had scored at home in a playoff game since 2001 as they took a 1-0 lead.

That lead wouldn’t last too long for the M’s as Detroit had a response in the top of the 5th. A one-out single by Parker Meadows put the tying run on, but George Kirby would get Gleyber Torres to groundout to Naylor at first. Meadows moved up to second with Kerry Carpenter coming to the plate. Carpenter has been more than a thorn in the side of George Kirby with four career homers off of the young righty. He would make it five in this AB. A fastball well above the zone was crushed by Carpenter out to right for a two-run shot. Momentum was right back to Detroit as they grabbed a 2-1 lead.

Both teams would move on from their starters as things moved into the 6th with Detroit leading. A former Mariner in Rafael Montero entered for the Tigers and walked Randy Arozarena to begin the inning. Cal Raleigh pulled a single into right field, moving Arozarena to third and putting runners on the corners with nobody out. Julio once again came through with a single the other way into right field to tie the game at 2-2 with runners on first and second with still nobody out. What felt like a big inning ended abruptly when Josh Naylor hit into a double play and Jorge Polanco lined out to right to quiet the threat. It felt like a missed opportunity for the M’s but they had still tied the game at 2-2.

Gabe Speier and Matt Brash rolled through the 7th and 8th, keeping the game tied. In the home half of the 8th, Kyle Finnegan quickly retired the first two Mariners he faced before Cal Raleigh singled to left to put the go-ahead run on. J-Rod couldn’t find his third hit as he went down swinging to send the game to the 9th. Andrés Muñoz got help on defense from Geno and himself to hang a zero in the 9th. Will Vest did just the same for Detroit and Game 1 was headed to extras.

Muñoz looked better in the 10th with a 1-2-3 inning but Vest matched that to push us to the 11th. Carlos Vargas would come in and his shaky 2025 would really hurt the M’s this time. A walk to Spencer Torkelson turned into a double on a wild pitch to put the go-ahead run on second with nobody out. Vargas settled down to strikeout Wenceel Pérez and Dillon Dingler for two outs while Torkelson stayed at second. Zach McKinstry delivered the big hit with a soft grounder up the middle into center field. Torkelson came around to score and the Tigers were three outs away from stealing Game 1.

Keider Montero was on for the final three outs against the top of the Mariner order. He retired Arozarena and Raleigh quickly, but Julio extended the game with a single to left for his third hit of the game. That only delayed the finish as Josh Naylor rolled a grounder to Torkelson at first to end it. Detroit came to Seattle and stole home-field advantage by taking down the M’s in 11 innings, 3-2.

Notable Performances

Tigers

Mariners

• Julio Rodríguez- 3-5, HR, 2 RBI, R
• Cal Raleigh- 3-5
• George Kirby (ND)- 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 SO

What’s Next

Just like that, home-field advantage flips to the Detroit Tigers who goes up 1-0 in the best-of-five series. There will be no time for the Mariners to rest and lick their wounds as game 2 is scheduled for a 5:03pm first pitch on Sunday evening. Luis Castillo (11-8, 3.54 ERA) will look to replicate his success from the 2022 postseason when he takes the ball in what feels like an elimination game for the Mariners. La Piedra had just a 2.60 ERA at home in 17 starts this season. On the other side, the soon-to-be back-to-back American League Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal (13-6, 2.21 ERA) will get the ball in the same city he played in for college. The former Seattle U Redhawk takes the ball against his kryptonite this season as he went 0-2 with an ERA of 5.91 in two starts against the Mariners in 2025. Seattle will need to be patient at the plate and put together good at-bats to get Skubal’s pitch count up and get him out of the game and face a bullpen that covered 11 innings just 24 hours ago.

MLB Playoff Scores

• Milwaukee Brewers defeat Chicago Cubs 9-3 (Milwaukee leads series 1-0)
• Toronto Blue Jays defeat New York Yankees 10-1 (Toronto leads series 1-0)
• Los Angeles Dodgers defeat Philadelphia Phillies 5-3 (Los Angeles leads series 1-0)

MLB Playoff Schedule Sunday

• New York Yankees @ Toronto Blue Jays (Game 2, 1:08pm First Pitch)- Max Fried (19-5, 2.86 ERA) vs. Trey Yesavage (1-0, 3.21 ERA)
• Detroit Tigers @ Seattle Mariners (Game 2, 5:03pm First Pitch)- Tarik Skubal (13-6, 2.21 ERA) vs. Luis Castillo (11-8, 3.54 ERA)

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