This is it, friends. The Tigers’ last stand, their last chance to pull out all the punches and make it happen. In the early part of the 2025 season, I think we saw the postseason shaping up differently,
with the Tigers leading the entire American League for a good chunk of the year, anticipated to be heading right to the ALDS in the top seed, but then the slow decline happened and they needed to fight tooth and nail just to get to the postseason, and then through the Wild Card series. On Wednesday, they showed they weren’t ready to yield to the Mariners in a tremendous Game Four effort, so now it’s all on the line in Game Five. Choosing Tarik Skubal for the start was a no-brainer decision for AJ Hinch, and the Mariners turned to George Kirby.
Kerry Carpenter opened the game with a single for the Tigers, but three outs followed, leaving him stranded. In the home half, with one out, Cal Raleigh singled, but Skubal got the next two outs with swinging strikeouts to keep the Mariners at bay.
In the second, the Tigers went down 1-2-3. The home half saw things take an unpleasant turn as Skubal’s pitch count inched higher and Josh Naylor got a one-out double to deep left. He then stole third. A sac fly by Mitch Garver then brought Naylor home, putting the Mariners on the board first. Victor Robles struck out to end the inning, but the Tigers would need to dig themselves out of a hole.
With two outs in the third, Carpenter continued to dominate against Kirby, and singled to keep the inning alive. Gleyber Torres struck out to end the inning, though, and the Tigers continued to struggle to get their first run. Skubal turned things around after the Naylor situation and struck out the side in the bottom of the third.
In the fourth, with two outs, Keith was hit by a pitch to get a free bag. Unfortunately, he attempted to steal second (right as the broadcast booth was scoffing at him for being too slow to steal bases), and while he was initially safe, the call was reviewed and overturned to end the inning. Sigh. In the home half it was apparent that Skubal’s command was a little off, as he struck out the side, but had to use a lot of pitches to do it.
Kirby was obviously losing steam in the top of the fifth. His command was off, velo seemed down. Ultimately, it didn’t matter, though, because he went through the Tigers in order. In the home half, the first out was a flyout by Naylor, which ended the seven-in-a-row strikeout streak for Skubal, a postseason record. Skubal got the next two outs, and it was high time for the Tigers to give the man some run support.
Javier Baez hit a leadoff double in the sixth to chase Kirby from the game. Gabe Speier was next in for Seattle and immediately gave up a two-run homer to Kerry Carpenter.
With two outs, Speier was done after facing the minimum three batters. Matt Brash came in to get the final out, but the Tigers were up 2-1 thanks to Carpenter. Skubal came in for the home half and got the Mariners out in order, finishing off Cal Raleigh with a heater down the middle at 101. Unreal. Skubal’s night was done at that point, but what a night it was. 6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 13 K on 99 pitches. Exactly what you would hope for from Skubal.
The Tigers went 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh. Kyle Finnegan was first out of the Tigers’ bullpen in the bottom of the seventh, and he had big cleats to fill. With one out, Finnegan walked Jorge Polanco. A deeeeep fly off Eugenio Suarez was thankfully inside the field, and Carpenter got the out. Naylor singled into the gap between first and second, but it only pushed Polanco to second. That was it for Finnegan. Tyler Holton came in from the bullpen, and to counter that move, a switch-hitting Leo Rivas came in for his first-ever postseason appearance. On his 28th birthday. With that kind of set-up, it shouldn’t come as a shock that he singled into left field to score Polanco and tie the game. The Tigers got the final out of the inning, but everything sucked again.
With two outs in the eighth, Brash’s night was done as the Mariners dipped into the bullpen for their closer. Andrés Muñoz faced Kerry Carpenter, and Carpenter took a walk, making him 4-4 for the game. Gleyber Torres then walked as well. With two outs, it was all on Riley Greene. Greene popped out to end the inning, leaving two stranded. Will Vest was next out of the Tigers’ pen. With a full count, Vest grazed Arozarena to put a runner on for Cal Raleigh. He then struck out Julio Rodriguez to send it to the ninth, still tied.
The Tigers did little to help their case in the top of the ninth, going 1-2-3. So, the only hope remaining was to get this into extras. Vest was back out to face the heart of the Seattle order. Polanco hit a ball into center that Parker Meadows managed to get under for the first out. Vest struck out Suarez. Naylor then singled, so it was once again in the hands of the rookie Rivas. Vest struck out Rivas looking, and this game was headed to extra innings.
Logan Gilbert came on for the tenth, his first-ever relief appearance. Dingler hit a long fly right to the track for the first out. Meadows struck out. Baez hit a flyout. Troy Melton came on and immediately gave up a double to Victor Robles down the right field line. Arozarena struck out, and Cal Raleigh was intentionally walked. Rodriguez hit a little infield grounder, and the game was heading to the eleventh.
Carpenter singled to lead off the eleventh. A rare passed ball by Cal Raleigh (his first of the entire season) allowed Carpenter to advance to second. With one out, Riley Greene was walked intentionally. Torkelson had a flyout. The Tigers did what they did best, though, leaving their baserunners stranded and striking out to end the inning.
Keider Montero was in for the home half, and he got the Mariners out in order.
Zach McKinstry legged out a little infield single that no one managed to find, and he was safe on first. Dingler then hit a perfectly placed single to left. Eduard Bazardo came in to replace Gilbert, and Meadows dropped a bunt right in front of the plate to move both baserunners into scoring position. Javier Baez hit into a fielder’s choice with a broken bat infield hit; they got McKinstry out at home, and men were at the corners. They intentionally walked Kerry Carpenter to load the bases. Torres flied out, and the best opportunity the Tigers were ever going to see went down the drain. In the home half, Rivas walked, then advanced to second on a throwing error by Montero in a pickoff attempt. The ball actually hit him. Robles showed bunt, and took a ball right to the fingers, but the question became, did it hit the bat first (foul) or him first (hit-by-pitch). It was called the latter, but Hinch challenged. The call on the field stood, so Robles headed to first. This was definitely not the correct call. Still no outs. Crawford flied out for the first out of the inning. Montero managed to get Arozarena to hit into a double play. On to the thirteenth!
In the top of the thirteenth, with one out, Torkelson took the absolute ugliest called strike three. The exact same call was the end for Keith; in both cases, they thought (reasonably so) that it was a ball. Brutal calls. Jack Flaherty came in for the bottom of the thirteenth to face the heart of the order for the Mariners. He walked Cal Raleigh to start the inning. Rodriguez walked on a full count. Flaherty’s command was just out to lunch; he was all over the zone. With two on, Flaherty finally got the first out of the inning against Polanco. Somehow, despite all the inconsistent pitches. Flaherty managed to induce a double play to end the inning, and as impossible as it seems, this game was going to the fourteenth. This was now the longest winner-take-all game (by innings) in MLB postseason history.
With one out, Dingler hit a perfectly placed double to deep left. Meadows struck out, of course. That was it for Bazardio with Baez coming up to bat. Luis Castillo came in, proving the Mariners were really willing to do just about anything to win this game. A pop-up ended the inning and sent it to the home half. With two outs, Robles took a walk. Robles attempted to steal second, and Dingler’s throw out was perfect to get him for the third out.
The Tigers really did nothing in the top of the fifteenth to help themselves. They were down in order against Castillo, and dare I say, perhaps Hinch should consider a pinch-hitter for the guys who have gone 0-6. Tommy Kahnle was in to pitch, so perhaps Hinch just wants to go home. The change-up king of Detroit actually pulled out some fastballs, surprisingly. And then gave up a base hit to Crawford. Randy Arozarena got hit by a pitch to put two on. Raleigh hit a long fly ball out, moving the baserunners up, and Rodriguez got the intentional walk to load the bases. A single to right was the nail in the coffin, Polanco was the hero of Seattle and after over five hours and fifteen innings, one of the longest, strangest games in postseason history was over.
One heck of a season, one final effort to keep it alive, but the Tigers’ 2025 road ends here.
