For those fans who were miffed about the early start time for Tuesday’s game, the weather gods had the last laugh, with a nearly two-hour rain delay moving the start of the game (and the channels on which
it was played). The Tigers were happy to be home where their regular season record was 46-35. The Mariners were a little rougher on the road, going 39-42. The Tigers are hoping this will be an opportunity for them to take a lead in the ALDS, especially since the Mariners come from a stadium with a roof, perhaps their ability to bounce back from rain delays is a little rustier. One can hope. The Tigers would be leaning on Jack Flaherty, who has been uneven in the regular season but had a decent outing against Cleveland in the Wild Card series. If his pitch command is on point, he’ll be a force to be reckoned with. The Mariners were calling on Logan Gilbert, who has only one postseason start that did not go all that well for him. There was some speculation over whether Josh Naylor would be with the Mariners today after he stepped away from the team yesterday to deal with “personal matters.” His wife is expecting their first child. Naylor will be playing in tonight’s game, though no announcement was made about whether the baby had arrived.
Things got interesting right out of the gate as Randy Arozarena appeared to hit a single in the leadoff spot, but the Tigers took a big risk in challenging the play, and it was a risk that paid off, with the on-field call being overturned. Flaherty didn’t have to work too hard to collect the next two outs and the Tigers were off to a good start. In the home half with one out, Gleyber Torres singled, but he was soon eliminated in a force out off the bat of Colt Keith. That’s right, friends, Colt Keith batting third. A Riley Greene strikeout ended the inning.
With two outs in the top of the second—including one with Josh Naylor wearing a SPARKLY SILVER BELT to match the sparkly silver of the away uniforms—Eugenio Suarez drew a walk. Flaherty, who was as locked in as we could hope for, got the final out of the inning. With two outs, Dillion Dingler singled, but the third out left him stranded.
Victor Robles got a leadoff double. Then J.P. Crawford singled. Riley Greene got the ball out in left, but instead of getting to Zach McKinstry as the middleman, it went directly to home, where Dingler missed the ball. An error was charged to Greene. Robles scored, and while the Tigers did challenge the play, it was upheld. On the next batter, Randy Arozarena singled, scoring Crawford. Still no outs. Cal Raleigh walked. But Flaherty got the next three outs in order, which kept the damage limited to the two runs. Gleyber Torres got a two-out double in the home half, but that was it for the Tigers.
Flaherty, who had started the game strong, was starting to lose his confidence in the fourth inning. Suarez got a leadoff homer to give the Mariners a 3-0 lead. Dominic Canzone then worked a walk, and we started to see some movement in the bullpen. With one out, Flaherty’s day was done, and he was replaced by Tommy Kahnle. Crawford drew a walk. With two outs, Cal Raleigh singled, bringing Canzone home. At the end of the inning the Mariners were up 4-0, but at least the final out was a really slick sliding catch by Riley Greene. The final line for Flaherty was 3.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 1 HR on 76 pitches. In the home half, the Tigers went 1-2-3.
Brant Hurter came in for the top of the fifth, and managed to get through the Mariners in only nine pitches, something the Tigers really needed. In the home half, Dingler was hit by a pitch to leadoff the bottom of the inning. Parker Meadows bunted down the third base line and just narrowly missed making it to first thanks to a super accurate throw from Suarez. Dingler advanced into scoring position. Javier Baez then singled, but Dingler was held at third thanks to a throw home by Robles. Carpenter grounded into a fielder’s choice, with Baez out at second, but Naylor couldn’t quite hold onto the ball at first and Carpenter was safe. Dingler scored, to put the Tigers on the board at last. The final out was a groundout from Torres, so the Tigers would need to settle for just the one run in probably their best scoring opportunity of the game.
In the sixth, with two outs, Crawford hit a solo home run to right field. Keider Montero then replaced Hurter. Montero got the final out of the inning, but Crawford seemed to have the final nail of the coffin. The Tigers went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning.
Jorge Polanco got a two-out walk in the top of the seventh, but the Tigers got the final out. Matt Brash replaced Gilbert in the bottom of the inning, and he got the Tigers out in order.
In the top of the eighth, with one out, a pinch-hitting Luke Raley was hit by a pitch. Robles reached on a fielding error by Kerry Carpenter, then a Crawford sac fly brought Raley home. Robles was caught stealing to end the inning, but the Mariners were now up 6-1. Eduard Bazardo came in for the Mariners in the bottom of the inning and got three outs in a row.
Brenan Hanifee is back from being a missing person and gave up a leadoff double to Arozarena. Cal Raleigh then hit a home run to left, that somehow miraculously went to a Mariners fan who was wearing a shirt that said “Dump 61 Here,” and it was indeed the Big Dumper’s 61st home run of the season. The fan, after celebrating, then pulled off the shirt to reveal he was wearing a second shirt that said “Dump 62 Here,” and frankly, that’s the only fun thing to happen in this whole game.
They got the next three outs in order, but the Mariners were now up 8-1. In the bottom of the ninth, Caleb Ferguson came on and gave up a single and a walk to two pinch-hitters, Jake Rogers and Jahmai Jones. Spencer Torkelson then hit a double to the deep right corner, scoring both baserunners. A pinch-hitting Andy Ibanez then hit a single between first and second in the gap, and that scored Torkelson.
Andrés Muñoz replaced Ferguson, he got one out, then hit into an unassisted double play to end the game. The Mariners moved to 2-1 in the series.
