10/10/25

(Seattle, WA) Eight months of baseball came down to one game for the Seattle Mariners and Detroit Tigers. Friday night was the final game of the ALDS in a winner-take-all game five in Seattle where the winner would advance to the ALCS to take on the Toronto Blue Jays. Detroit had not been to the ALCS since 2013, which was their third trip in a row. For the Seattle Mariners, it was a lot longer as they had not made it to the ALCS since their historic 116-win season in 2016.

Every single pitcher for both teams would be available, but Detroit would send Tarik Skubal to the mound in the finale. The Seattle U product is heading for his second consecutive AL Cy Young award and would look to avenge a bumpy game five of last season’s ALDS against Cleveland. For Seattle, George Kirby would take the ball looking for his first career win in the postseason and pitching in an elimination game for the second time in his career.

Mariners 3, Tigers 2 (15 Innings) (Game Five, Mariners Win Series 3-2)

Tarik Skubal and George Kirby got off to nice and clean starts but the first shot was landed in the 2nd. Josh Naylor flicked his bat out with a defensive swing and ended up on second with a double with nobody out. In a risky move, Naylor would then swipe third for yet another stolen base to put himself 90-feet away from home. Mitch Garver would be the guy to get the job done with a deep fly ball to center to easily bring home Naylor and give Seattle a 1-0 lead.

That would be all that Seattle could muster against Tarik Skubal who was on another level on Friday night. While Skubal was rolling, the offense was quieted by George Kirby until they put some pressure on in the top of the 6th. A leadoff double by Javy Báez put the tying run in scoring position to begin the inning. Dan Wilson would go right to his lefty in Gabe Speier to face the lethal Kerry Carpenter. Speier and Carpenter have met many times in this series and this time, Carpenter finally got to Speier. A fastball out over the plate was deposited into the J-Rod Squad for a two-run shot and Carpenter’s second of the series. Just like that, T-Mobile Park was silenced with Detroit leading 2-1.

Skubal finished his outing in dominant fashion. He himself was disappointed with his performance against Cleveland in game five of the ALDS last year and he wasn’t going to let that happen again. The flamethrower went six innings and allowed just two hits and one run without a single walk allowed and 13 strikeouts. That would be the most strikeouts in a winner-take-all game in MLB history and turned the lead over to the Tigers bullpen.

Matt Brash kept it a one-run deficit for the M’s into the bottom of the 7th when Kyle Finnegan took over for Detroit. A one-out walk to Jorge Polanco seemed harmless enough, but a two-out single by Josh Naylor turned that walk into potentially the tying run. In a mini-chess match, Dan Wilson would use Dominic Canzone to hit for Mitch Garver but A.J. Hinch elected to bring in Tyler Holton. Seattle had to burn Canzone and instead used switch hitter and birthday boy Leo Rivas in his first playoff AB in his career. It would be memorable. Rivas pulled a base hit to left, scoring Polanco and sending Seattle into a frenzy. It would be the unlikely hero in Leo Rivas who tied the game at 2-2.

Andrés Muñoz was a little shaky when he came on to get the final out of the 8th and walked Kerry Carpenter and Gleyber Torres to put two on with two away. A Riley Greene pop-up got Muñoz out of trouble. Seattle couldn’t get anything off of Will Vest in the 8th but Andrés Muñoz rolled through the top of the 9th to give the M’s a chance to walk it off. A two-out single by Josh Naylor would be stranded however and game five headed to extra innings.

Normally a starting pitcher, Logan Gilbert was thrust into relief duties and pitched the top of the 10th. He would retire all three Tigers in order while Troy Melton came on to pitch the home half for Detroit. A leadoff double by Victor Robles put the winning run on to leadoff the inning. J.P. Crawford couldn’t move him over and popped out for the first out. Randy Arozarena would then go down on strikes and Detroit elected to intentionally walk Cal Raleigh. Julio Rodríguez would hit with the game on the line but a chopper to short would extend the game and send it to the 11th.

Logan Gilbert did not have a clean inning in the 11th as he gave up a leadoff single to Kerry Carpenter. Cal Raleigh would then allow his first passed ball of the season to put the go-ahead run in scoring position. Gleyber Torres lined out to Robles in right before Gilbert intentionally walked Riley Greene. Spencer Torkelson would fly out to left before Logan Gilbert got a huge strikeout of Colt Keith to escape the jam. Keider Montero didn’t have to sweat the home half and pitched a 1-2-3 inning to send it to the 12th.

Zach McKinstry and Dillon Dingler hit back-to-back singles to put two on with nobody out and that was it for Gilbert. Dan Wilson brought in Eduard Bazardo who got Parker Meadows on a sacrifice bunt for the first out while runners moved up to second and third. Javy Báez chopped one to Eugenio Suárez at third and Geno immediately came home with it to cut down McKinstry at the plate for the second out. After intentionally walking Kerry Carpenter, Bazardo got Gleyber Torres to fly out to right to escape that threat. A double play with runners on first and second killed the Mariner threat in the 12th and we were going to the 13th.

Eduard Bazardo had no problem striking out the side in the top of the 13th and Jack Flaherty came in for Detroit as the Tigers started to go through their starters. Flaherty walked Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodríguez to put two on with nobody out as Seattle had another golden opportunity to walk it off. Jorge Polanco couldn’t get the ball in play and went down swinging on a knuckle curve. Eugenio Suárez would roll over on one to shortstop for a 6-4-3 double play and the game moved to the 14th.

A one-out double by Dillon Dingler was stranded when Luis Castillo got Javy Báez to pop out to end the top of the 14th. Jack Flaherty looked to have settled in as he retired the first two he faced in the home half, but Seattle put together a two-out rally. A walk to Victor Robles put the winning run on for J.P. Crawford. Robles would try to steal 90-feet, but a perfect throw by Dillon Dingler cut him down and we headed to the 15th.

Luis Castillo mowed right through the top of the 15th and once again Seattle had a chance to walk it off. Detroit went to Tommy Kahnle for the bottom of the 15th and gave up a leadoff single to J.P. Crawford before hitting Randy Arozarena to put two on with nobody out. Cal Raleigh would hit a line drive to center that was caught by Parker Meadows. Crawford tagged and moved up to third and the throw was off line which allowed Arozarena to move to second to erase the double play opportunity. Detroit put on Julio to load the bases with one out for Jorge Polanco. A 3-2 changeup below the zone was lined out to right field and touched down for a base hit which brought home J.P. Crawford. The longest winner-take-all game was finally over as the Seattle Mariners outlasted the Detroit Tigers 3-2 in 15 innings to advance to the ALCS.

Notable Performances

Tigers

Mariners

• Jorge Polanco- 1-6, Walk-Off RBI, R, BB
• Leo Rivas- 1-3, RBI, BB
• George Kirby (ND)- 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 SO
• Bullpen- 10 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 11 SO

What’s Next

For the first time in almost a quarter of a century, the Seattle Mariners advance to the American League Championship Series and look to win their first pennant in franchise history. Seattle will take a well deserved day off on Saturday before making the trip to Toronto for game one of a best-of-seven series with the Blue Jays. In the regular season, Toronto went 4-2 against the M’s including sweeping them in Seattle. However, in the only playoff series between the two, the M’s swept the Jays in the 2022 Wild Card Series. The pitching matchup for game one has yet to be announced.

Toronto took down the defending American League champions in the New York Yankees in four games in dominant fashion. The guy that carried the Jays to that series win was the face of the franchise in Valdimir Guerrero Jr. Vladdy was unbelievable all series long hitting .529 with a 1.609 OPS and three homers with nine runs batted in. Those are absurd numbers for the slugger and after being questioned about his playoff performance, he answered emphatically. The lineup is deep for the Jays, but if the Mariners want to make it to the World Series for the first time in franchise history, they have to keep Vladdy in check.

MLB Playoff Scores (Thursday & Friday Nights)

• Los Angeles Dodgers defeat Philadelphia Phillies 2-1 (11 Innings) (Los Angeles wins series 3-1)
• Chicago Cubs defeat Milwaukee Brewers 6-0 (Series Tied 2-2)

MLB Playoff Schedule Saturday

• Chicago Cubs @ Milwaukee Brewers (Game 5, 5:08pm)- TBD vs. TBD

MLB Playoff Schedule Sunday

• Seattle Mariners @ Toronto Blue Jays (Game 1, 5:03pm)- TBD vs. TBD

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