10/8/25

(Detroit, MI) One win stood between the Seattle Mariners and the American League Championship Series as the M’s battled the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday afternoon. No rain delay affected this one as everything was on schedule while Detroit had the pressure with their season on the line. After the M’s put up eight runs in game three, Seattle hoped the momentum would keep on building.

In game four of the series, Seattle would turn to Bryce Miller (4-6, 5.68 ERA) to try to finish the series in a spot in the rotation that would normally belong to All-Star Bryan Woo. For Detroit, Casey Mize (14-6, 3.87 ERA) would take the bump as the Tigers season hung on by a thread.

Tigers 9, Mariners 3 (Game Four, Series Tied 2-2)

Casey Mize and George Kirby went 1-2-3 in the 1st inning before Seattle drew first blood in the 2nd. A one-out double for Josh Naylor gave the new dad his first hit of the postseason. Unfortunately, Euguenio Suárez went down on strikes and couldn’t move Naylor up. It was all good however as Dominic Canzone came through. A base hit into right field was enough to bring home Naylor, giving Canzone his first career postseason hit and RBI and also gave the Mariners a 1-0 lead.

That score held until the top of the 4th when Seattle put together a very promising threat. Tyler Holton took over for Mize on the mound to begin the inning and got in trouble after back-to-back singles by Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suárez put two on with nobody out. Mith Garver pinch hit for Canzone and worked a walk to load the bases with nobody out as Seattle looked to break things open early. Victor Robles came to the plate and sent a grounder up the middle past Kyle Finnegan. Javy Báez was there and turned it into a 6-4-3 double play as a run came home. That bases loaded, nobody out threat netted just a single run as J.P. Crawford popped out as the M’s couldn’t really capitalize on the threat and led just 2-0.

Bryce Miller continued to roll through another scoreless inning in the bottom of the 4th. In the 5th, Seattle took advantage of another mishap by the Detroit Tigers. Randy Arozarena reached on a leadoff single and moved to second on a wild pitch to put a man in scoring position. Cal Raleigh then brought him home with a single into right field. Seattle just continued to add on as they extended the lead to 3-0.

Things then quickly fell apart for the M’s. In the bottom of the 5th, Spencer Torkelson led off with a single but Bryce Miller got Zach McKinstry to hit into a fielder’s choice for the first out. With a man on first and one out, Dillon Dingler chased Bryce Miller with a double to left to score McKinstry and get the Tigers on the board trailing 3-1. Dan Wilson once again went to Gabe Speier against the same part of the order as usual and it did not work. Detroit hit Speier well as Jahmai Jones hit a pinch hit double followed by an RBI single for Javy Báez. In the blink of an eye the lead was gone and the game was tied 3-3.

Speier stayed in to start the bottom of the 6th but things continued to snowball out of control. Riley Greene sent Speier packing with a long solo home run to right center to put Detroit in front 4-3. In came Eduard Bazardo and Detroit just did not miss a beat. A double for Spencer Torkelson led to an RBI single by Zach McKinstry to extend the lead. He would get picked off before Bazardo struck out Dillon Dingler for the second out. A double by Wenceel Pérez extended the inning for Javy Báez who delivered the knockout blow. A two-run shot to left would put the momentum firmly on the Tigers side as they blew it open to take a 7-3 lead.

Detroit added on a couple more with a solo home run by Gleyber Torres that just snuck out to right to make it 8-3 before Báez drove in one more in the 8th. Seattle just looked checked out as they couldn’t cut the deficit back down and the Tigers roared late in this one, knocking around the Mariners bullpen to force a game five with a 9-3 victory.

Notable Performances

Mariners

Tigers

• Javy Báez- 2-4, HR, 4 RBI, R
• Zach McKinstry- 3-4, RBI, 2 R
• Casey Mize (ND)- 3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO

What’s Next

Now everything comes down to one singular game for the Seattle Mariners and Detroit Tigers. Game five of the ALDS decides who will move on to the ALCS to battle the Toronto Blue Jays for a spot in the World Series. The teams will be off on Thursday before game five takes place in Seattle at 5:08pm on Friday evening.

Both teams will throw starters that have already pitched in this series. For Detroit, it will be Tarik Skubal (13-6, 2.21 ERA) facing the Mariners for a fourth time in 2025. Seattle has won each of the Cy Young winner’s first three starts against them, including in game two when Jorge Polanco homered off the lefty twice. For Seattle, George Kirby (10-8, 4.21 ERA) will attempt to push the M’s to the ALCS for the first time since 2001. In game one, Kirby was strong until a two-run home run by Kerry Carpenter gave the Tigers the lead and eventually helped them get the win. Carpenter has five career home runs off of Kirby.

MLB Playoff Scores (Wednesday Night)

• Chicago Cubs defeat Milwaukee Brewers 4-3 (Milwaukee leads series 2-1)
• Toronto Blue Jays defeat New York Yankees 5-2 (Toronto wins series 3-1)
• Philadelphia Phillies defeat Los Angeles Dodgers 8-2 (Los Angeles leads series 2-1)

MLB Playoff Schedule Thursday

• Philadelphia Phillies @ Los Angeles Dodgers (Game 4, 3:08pm)- Christopher Sanchez (13-5, 2.50 ERA) vs. Tyler Glasnow (4-3, 3.19 ERA)
• Milwaukee Brewers @ Chicago Cubs (Game 4, 6:08pm)- Freddy Peralta (17-6, 2.70 ERA) vs. Matthew Boyd (14-8, 3.21 ERA)

MLB Playoff Schedule Friday

• Detroit Tigers @ Seattle Mariners (Game 5, 5:08pm)- Tarik Skubal (13-6, 2.21 ERA) vs. George Kirby (10-8, 4.21 ERA)

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