After Tough Game 1 Loss, the Mariners Now Face the Cy Young Frontrunner

SEATTLE – The Mariners had already waited 8,755 days since their last home postseason win. Now, that wait will last at least one day longer. 

This time, unlike their last opportunity to win a playoff game at T-Mobile Park three years ago, they managed to scratch a couple runs across. 

This time, the extra-inning affair only went 11 innings; it didn’t go 18. 

This time, it started the American League Division Series; it didn’t finish it. 

The Mariners still have a chance to make amends. But in their first home playoff game since a gutting marathon loss against the Astros ended their season three years ago, they were again left to wonder what could have been in a 3-2 defeat to start the ALDS. 

On Saturday night, the Tigers outscored, outmaneuvered and outlasted the Mariners, who remain in search of their first home playoff victory since 2001. 

That search won’t get any easier, as Tarik Skubal awaits in Sunday’s Game 2 after an opportunity lost for Seattle. 

“We didn’t steal it,” said Tigers manager A.J. Hinch. “We earned it.” 

The Tigers, who lost 22 of their last 31 games to end the regular season, and the Mariners, who went 17-4 down the stretch, were trending in opposite directions when the postseason began. On paper, Seattle appears to have the more loaded roster. But Detroit delivered a reminder that it had a .636 winning percentage in one-run games this year, led MLB in wins at the break and boasted six All-Star players. 

It was one of those six, Zach McKinstry, who delivered the deciding hit in the 11th with a dribbler up the middle. 

“All year long, I feel like we were either down or we were up,” McKinstry said. “We’re up right now.” 

The Tigers also demonstrated why experience in these situations matters. 

They were in this spot just a year ago and have a manager in Hinch making his sixth trip to the postseason. For the Mariners, Dan Wilson was a member of that 2001 Mariners club, but this is his first October experience as manager. 

And in a game decided on the margins, that mattered. 

Just like their only other home playoff game since 2001, it was George Kirby again on the mound delivering a medley of zeroes to start the night without any support. This year, however, is supposed to be different than 2022. 

And in the fourth inning, Julio Rodriguez demonstrated why. 

Unlike previous iterations of the pitching-rich, power-deprived Mariners clubs, this year’s group believes it has the offense to go the distance. And unlike Game 3 of the 2022 ALDS, when Kirby’s seven scoreless innings went for naught, Rodriguez provided his starting pitching a lead when he took Tigers starter Troy Melton deep to start the fourth inning and start the scoring. 

The blast awoke a restless crowd that had been looking to party from the moment Sonics legend Gary Payton got them going during pregame festivities.  It was the first run scored at home by the Mariners in a playoff game since Stan Javier, who’s now 61 years old, homered 24 years ago in Game 2 of the 2001 ALCS. 

The 47,290 fans in attendance remained deafening when Kirby struck out leadoff hitter Gleyber Torres to begin the night with a 98.8 mph for his fastest strikeout pitch of the season. Before Saturday night, Kirby had not thrown a pitch 99 mph this season. One batter later, he did one better, getting Kerry Carpenter swinging to keep the crowd going on a 99.5 mph fastball. 

But as he had done so often before, Carpenter would get him back. 

Carpenter entered the night 4-for-8 with four home runs in his career off Kirby, whose pitch count was rising and fastball velocity was fluctuating when Carpenter stepped to the plate with a runner on base and two outs in the fifth. Opponents this year have taken advantage against Kirby the third time through the order, and lefty Gabe Speier was warming ahead of the at-bat against Carpenter, whose numbers plummet against southpaws. 

But Wilson stuck with his starter. 

“It’s a tough one, and you do the best you can and try to take the information that you have and what you’re seeing,” Wilson said. “And we thought George continued to throw the ball pretty well there and still had pretty good stuff and a lot left in the tank.”

His faith was not rewarded. 

Kirby was one strike away from escaping when he executed a sinker the way he wanted to above the zone. The righty killer blasted it 112.5 mph off the bat nonetheless for his second career postseason home run. His first came last year, when he launched a game-winning three-run blast off Guardians star closer Emmanuel Clase in the ninth inning in Game 2 of the ALDS. Carpenter has picked up where he left off, starting this postseason on a five-game hitting streak. 

The shot quieted a raucous crowd. 

Rodriguez gave them more chances to get hyped. After Randy Arozarena walked and Cal Raleigh singled to start the sixth off Tigers reliever Rafael Montero, Rodriguez stepped to the plate as chants of “Ju-li-o” rained down. He kept the fans on their feet with a game-tying single the other way, prompting Hinch to make another pitching change. 

Again, the euphoria was fleeting. The Mariners’ revamped offense mustered just six hits — all courtesy of Rodriguez and Cal Raleigh —  in 11 innings against eight Tigers pitchers.

Josh Naylor grounded a ball to shortstop Javier Báez on the second-base side of the bag. Báez tagged Rodriguez and threw to first to complete a double play before a lineout from Jorge Polanco eliminated the threat. 

“We would squash the rally every time,” Hinch said. 

The game stayed knotted, 2-2, as a parade of relievers did their jobs for the next four innings. Wilson’s decision to use Andres Muñoz for two innings, the longest outing of the closer’s Seattle tenure, paid off. But in the 11th, another decision awaited the Mariners skipper. One option was starter Bryce Miller. 

“We kind of were just weighing that pretty heavily,” Wilson said. 

Instead, he turned to Carlos Vargas, who walked the first batter he faced and threw a wild pitch. Vargas nearly escaped the jam, striking out the next two batters. Another choice was presented to Wilson. He could have walked the left-handed McKinstry to get to Javier Báez ,who was one of MLB’s worst hitters in the second half. 

“We talked about it,” Wilson said. “Obviously, Vargy gets the ball on the ground, and that’s what he does best, righty or lefty.” 

He pitched to McKinstry instead and paid the price. Báez then grounded out to end the inning. But the damage had been done. The top of the Mariners’ lineup offered no threat in the 11th. 

And the wait for a home playoff win since Oct. 15, 2001 persists. 

“To get a win before the best pitcher in the world pitches is pretty special,” Carpenter said. “And I feel like Skubal is made for these moments.” 

Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on X at @RowanKavner.

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