6/7/26

(Detroit, MI) One of the best playoff series of the decade was last season’s ALDS between the Seattle Mariners and Detroit Tigers. A five-game thriller that ended with the Mariners walking off the Tigers in 15 innings, fans across the country were entertained from start to finish. Fast forward to this weekend, and the Tigers were ready to try to enact some revenge against the red-hot Mariners.

Detroit has been a mess in 2026 with a ton of injuries taking apart their rotation and a lack of offense magnifying that hole even more. Without Tarik Skubal, and with his name being floated around in trade talks, things have been as bleak as possible in the Motor City. However, Detroit entered the weekend coming off of a sweep against one of the top teams in the American League in the Tampa Bay Rays. The bats woke up and gave some hope to Tigers fans that they would look to build upon against the Mariners.

Tigers 7, Mariners 3 (Game One, June 5th)

The series got underway on Friday night as the Seattle Mariners and Detroit Tigers squared off for the first time since game 5 of the ALDS which turned into a 15-inning thriller. Now, the stakes were not as high as the three-game set began with Bryan Woo on the mound for Seattle against former AL West rival in Framber Valdez who would face the Mariners for the first time since signing with Detroit in the offseason.

Seattle would get things going early against the southpaw as they tried to get him fired up and off his game early. J.P. Crawford and Julio Rodríguez began the game with back-to-back singles. Framber Valdez would bounce right back and recorded two huge strikeouts of Randy Arozarena and Josh Naylor to put himself an out away from escaping the jam. However, Rob Refsnyder would clutch up for the M’s and slapped a base hit into right field. Crawford would score and the two-out single gave Seattle a 1-0 lead early.

Bryan Woo got some great defense to put up scoreless innings in the 1st and 2nd, but the 3rd was bad in more ways than one. In the top half, J.P. Crawford was hit on the hand by a pitch and had to leave the game, although X-rays were negative. In the home half, Detroit made it pour on Seattle. Two one-out singles by Gleyber Torres and Kevin McGonigle got the table set and a groundball would only net one out instead of a double play, allowing a run to score to tie the game. Kerry Carpenter would then continue to hurt the Mariners bad as he drove a slider out to right field for a two-run shot and his eighth of the season and seventh in 12 games against the Mariners. Detroit would take the lead 3-1.

Seattle got back-to-back singles to begin the 4th from Josh Naylor and Rob Refsnyder but couldn’t do anything with them. Two walks were also stranded at second and third for the Mariners in the 5th. The score stayed 3-1 until the top of the 7th. Colt Emerson came to the plate for a left on left matchup and his success against lefties continued. A fastball at the top of the zone from reliever Drew Anderson was crushed the other way to left for an opposite field home run and his fourth of the season. The solo blast got the M’s within one, trailing 3-2.

Bryan Woo would go out for the bottom of the 7th but didn’t finish the inning. Three straight one-out singles by Colt Keith, Zach McKinstry, and Zack Short loaded the bases and forced Dan Wilson to go to the bullpen and bring in Eduard Bazardo. Unfortunately, he caught too much of the plate with a sinker to Gleyber Torres who would double to right to plate two and extend the lead to 5-2 for Detroit. Bazardo would escape further damage but the deficit was back up to three for the M’s.

Tyler Holton was on for Detroit in the 8th and Seattle would fight right back into the game. Josh Naylor doubled to right for his sixth double of the year and two batters later, Mitch Garver brought him home with an RBI single, making it 5-3. Seattle would not get any closer than that. A two-run home run by Spencer Torkelson in the 8th was his ninth homer of the year and was the knockout blow. Seattle put a couple on in the 9th highlighted by a Randy Arozarena double but couldn’t do anything with it. Will Vest got the last out against his former team as Detroit took down Seattle in the opener, 7-3.

Notable Performances

Mariners

Tigers

• Gleyber Torres- 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI, R
• Kerry Carpenter- 1-4, HR, 2 RBI, R
• Framber Valdez (W, 3-4)- 5 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO

Mariners 4, Tigers 0 (Game Two, June 6th)

Game two would be a must-win for the Seattle Mariners if they wanted to win a fourth series in a row while Detroit would have a chance for back-to-back series wins for the first time since mid-April. In the middle game, Bryce Miller would get the start without having to worry about a piggyback situation as the six-man rotation on the road trip allowed Saturday to be Miller’s day. On the other side, Keider Montero would have the ball with a series win in his grasp.

Both sides had very quiet 1st innings but Seattle would land the first shot for the second day in a row. In the 2nd, Randy Arozarena reached with a leadoff walk but it would be two batters later where the blow was landed. Dominic Canzone drove a deep fly ball to center that couldn’t be handled by Matt Vierling as it got over his head. Arozarena would score as Vierling couldn’t find the ball as Canzone had his 11th double of the year and the Mariners had a 1-0 lead.

Bryce Miller was lights out early on and struck out four of the first six batters he faced without allowing a baserunner. His lead would grow in the 3rd as the bats continued to get it done against Keider Montero. Singles by Julio Rodríguez and Josh Naylor set up Randy Arozarena. Randy lined a base hit into the right field corner that would easily score Julio and Naylor was waved home too. Some controversy arose as Naylor’s baserunning glove seemed to be thrown to the plate but it did not affect the play as Naylor scored as well. Arozarena’s 18th double of the year extended the Seattle lead to 3-0.

Detroit finally got a hit against Bryce Miller leading off the bottom of the 3rd as Colt Keith tripled for the second time this season. With a man on third and nobody out, the Tigers had a golden opportunity to score. However, Bryce would get a pop up to first by Matt Vierling followed by strikeouts of Wenceel Pérez and Gleyber Torres to escape the inning. That was the only chance Detroit had against Miller as he was completely dominant in six scoreless innings. The triple was the only hit allowed by Miller as he walked two and struck out nine in a brilliant performance. Since the ALCS last year, Miller has been incredible for the Mariners and his added velocity has continued to impress in 2026.

Seattle got another run on Dominic Canzone’s eighth home run of the season in the 4th to make it 4-0. There was a bit of controversy in the 5th when Josh Naylor was at the plate. Naylor was hit in the upper shoulder and while he was laughing, was clearly not thrilled and many believed it to be intentional. A little collision in game one at first between Naylor and McGonigle along with the play at the plate with Naylor’s sliding glove seemed to not sit well with the Tigers and some postgame comments confirmed that. No more drama would come from that in game two, but did seem to potentially ignite a bit of a rivalry.

After Miller left the game, it was the bullpen picking up where he left off. Jose A. Ferrer got things started with a scoreless 7th. Matt Brash allowed a two-out walk in the 8th but a strikeout of Gleyber Torres stranded that runner. Gabe Speier would have the 9th in a non-save situation and did get in a bit of a jam. A double by Kevin McGonigle led off the inning and a one-out walk by Jahmai Jones put two on. A Riley Greene grounder would go right to Cole Young however and his flip to Colt Emerson at short would end with a strong throw to first for a game-ending, 4-6-3 double play. There wasn’t too much stress on the M’s in game two thanks to pure dominance from Bryce Miller as he and the bullpen pitched a shutout and a strong day at the plate for Dominic Canzone netted the Mariners a 4-0 shutout win.

Notable Performances

Mariners

Tigers

• Colt Keith- 1-3, 3B
• Kevin McGonigle- 1-3, 2B, BB
• Keider Montero (L, 2-4)- 5 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO

Tigers 5, Mariners 4 (Game Three, June 7th)

As per usual with these two teams, the series would come down to the final game as Seattle and Detroit wrapped up the three-game set with the rubber game on Sunday. Also free from the piggyback situation, Luis Castillo looked to continue his strong run since the piggyback was enforced and earn the Mariners a series win. For Detroit, they would have their own struggling veteran on the mound as Jack Flaherty also looked to continue his best stretch of 2026.

For most of Sunday afternoon at Comerica Park, it looked like the Mariners were headed home with a series victory.

Instead, the Tigers had one final answer.

Seattle built a 4-1 lead behind a strong outing from starter Luis Castillo and timely offense from Josh Naylor and Julio Rodríguez. Castillo allowed just one run over 5 2/3 innings, keeping Detroit’s lineup quiet through much of the afternoon.

The Tigers began chipping away in the fourth when rookie infielder Kevin McGonigle launched a solo homer to cut the deficit. Seattle answered and eventually stretched its advantage to 4-1, appearing firmly in control.

But Detroit’s offense came alive in the seventh inning. Wenceel Pérez delivered the biggest swing of the frame, ripping a two-run triple that suddenly made it a one-run game and energized the home crowd.

The Mariners carried that slim lead into the ninth and handed the ball to All-Star closer Andrés Muñoz. Two outs away from a victory, Seattle couldn’t close the door. Detroit worked walks, put runners aboard, and brought McGonigle to the plate with the game on the line. The rookie delivered again, lining a two-run single that completed the comeback and sent the Tigers pouring out of the dugout for a 5-4 walk-off victory.

Notable Performances

Mariners

Tigers

• Kevin McGonigle- 2-4, HR, 3 RBI, R, BB
• Wenceel Pérez- 2-3, 3B, 2 RBI, R, BB
• Jack Flaherty (ND)- 5 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO

What’s Next

The series loss ends the Seattle Mariners (34-32) three-series winning streak and it ended with quite a gut punch. To make matters worse, Texas took two of three from Cleveland and Houston won two of three against the A’s. The Angels did lose their series to the Dodgers, but avoided the sweep on Sunday. The M’s still sit at the top of the AL West, 1/2 games ahead of the Rangers, 2 1/2 ahead of the A’s, 4 1/2 ahead of the Astros, and 9 ahead of the Angels. Texas will visit Kansas City for three, while Houston goes to Anaheim for three. The A’s will play this week in Las Vegas starting with three against the Brewers.

Seattle will continue their 10-game road trip now as they hit the east coast with a new opponent in 2026. The Mariners will visit the Baltimore Orioles (31-35) for a four-game series beginning on Monday and ending on Thursday with a Nationally Televised game on ESPN. Baltimore made a couple of big moves this offseason, signing one of the best bats in the game in Pete Alonso along with a controversial trade as they traded away starting pitcher Grayson Rodriguez for Taylor Ward from the Angels. They have seen mixed results with hot stretches and cold streaks but are coming off their first series loss since May 18th-20th when they lost two of three to Toronto.

Baltimore is an average team in terms of straight forward batting average, but when they are getting hits, they aren’t settling for singles. The O’s are eighth in slugging and OPS, as well as runs scored. They strikeout a lot, but the damage is there and the biggest culprit in that is of course Pete Alonso. Alonso is the entire team in a nutshell. He is batting .243 with 64 strikeouts but has a slugging percentage of .446 with 13 home runs and 40 runs batted in. He has a hit in five of his six games this month and has gotten better each month since a tough April. Like the rest of the team, there is plenty of swing and miss at the plate and Seattle has a ton of swing and miss stuff on the mound so controlling the count is imperative for the Mariners this week since the Orioles also possess a bottom 10 pitching staff.

• Game 1, Monday 3:35pm- Emerson Hancock (4-2, 2.80 ERA) vs. Chris Bassitt (4-4, 5.27 ERA)
• Game 2, Tuesday 3:35pm- Logan Gilbert (4-4, 3.79 ERA) vs. Trevor Rogers (3-6, 6.29 ERA)
• Game 3, Wednesday 3:35pm- George Kirby (5-5, 4.04 ERA) vs. Brandon Young (4-1, 3.47 ERA)
• Game 4, Thursday 4pm (ESPN)- Bryan Woo (5-4, 3.74 ERA) vs. Kyle Bradish (3-7, 3.89 ERA)

Roster Moves

• J.P. Crawford placed on 10-day IL (Right hand contusion, retroactive to June 6th)
• Recall 2B Ryan Bliss from Triple-A Tacoma

Mariners Minor League Update

This will be a new segment each week to update what is going on in the Seattle minor league system. We will continuously give scores for each team but will also highlight some of the key players that have had strong series.

Tacoma Rainiers (Lost Series @ Sacramento River Cats, W 6-1, W 5-1, L 7-3, L 4-0, L 7-4, L 5-3)

Hitter of the Series

Spencer Packard, OF- 10-24- 3 2B, 2 RBI, 3 R, 2 BB

Pitcher of the Series

Michael Rucker, RHP- 2.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO

Arkansas Travelers (Won Series @ Corpus Christi Hooks, W 9-8, W 12-9, W 3-2, W 6-0, L 9-8, W 11-6)

Hitter of the Series

Lazaro Montes, OF- 10-25, 2B, 5 HR, 10 RBI, 9 R, 3 BB, SB

Pitcher of the Series

Kade Anderson, SP- 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 SO

Everett AquaSox (Won Series vs. Eugene Emeralds, W 8-5, W 5-3, W 12-2, W 8-5, L 6-4, L 3-2)

Hitter of the Series

Jonny Farmelo, OF- 9-22, 2 2B, 3B, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 8 R, 5 BB, SB

Pitcher of the Series

Chase Centala, SP- 5 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 SO

Inland Empire 66ers (Split Series @ San Jose Giants, L 7-4, L 10-3, W 8-5, W 7-1, W 4-0, L 5-2)

Hitter of the Series

Cesar Quintas, OF- 7-25, 2 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 5 R, 2 BB, SB

Pitcher of the Series

Jose Gabriel Torres, RHP- 3.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO

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