Baseball

Crazy game: Mariners win and face Blue Jays on Sunday
Charles-Alexis Brisebois
Crazy game: Mariners win and face Blue Jays on Sunday
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Tonight, in Seattle, the Mariners received a visit from the Detroit Tigers. Both teams were playing for survival, as the loser would not have the chance to continue playing this season.

Meanwhile, the Blue Jays were patiently awaiting the winner of the first duel on the heels of the American League Championship Series, starting Sunday in Toronto.

George Kirby and Tarik Skubal (who didn't necessarily have the Mariners' number in 2025) were on the mound in what promised to be a noisy game. When a club plays in a stadium where the roof is closed, let's just say it creates noise.

At the start of the game, it was the Mariners who had the advantage. They had Skubal throwing a lot, unlike Kirby, who wasn't being challenged as much by the Detroit boys.

In the end, it was Seattle who struck first.

In the second inning, Josh Naylor hit a double via a defensive swing. He stole third base (without Tarik Skubal seeing him or hearing his teammates over the noise) and the Canadiens found a way home via a long sacrifice fly by Mitch Garver.

Cal Raleigh, known for his power with the bat, made an excellent defensive play to keep his side in the game. He retired Colt Keith on a steal attempt with a… perfect shot.

You couldn't ask for more.

But in the sixth inning, Dan Wilson shot himself in the foot. Managers like to remove starting pitchers too quickly, and the Mariners' manager wanted to avoid the clash between Kirby and Kerry Carpenter, who has the pitcher's number.

Even though a left-hander was brought in, the Tigers batter slammed a two-run long ball to give his club the lead – and silence the crowd in Seattle.

So Skubal (who retired seven straight batters on strikes at one point, which is a playoff record) finally had some support and wiggle room.

It looked good for Detroit in the short term.

But seeing that the Tigers had removed Skubal after just six innings (two hits, no walks), one had to wonder whether the Tigers might make the same mistake as the Mariners.

After all, Skubal was fine. 13 strikeouts in a final playoff game is extraordinary – and a record under the circumstances.

No surprise: Kyle Finnegan didn't last into the seventh, and the Mariners still had good contact in their bats. Imagine if the Tigers had kept the world's best pitcher on the mound….

Tyler Holton came to the mound with traffic on the paths (but after Josh Naylor's turn at bat) and Leo Rivas (who, you might ask?) created the tie for Seattle.

A.J. Hinch has looked better than this… #ComeOn

The game went into extra innings, which was good for the Blue Jays as many pitchers were used. In particular, Logan Gilbert was used in relief for the first time in his career.

In the bottom of the 10th, Victor Robles hit a double on the first pitch of the half inning… but to no avail.

In the 11th, Kerry Carpenter hit his fourth home run of the game – his club's fifth – and moved to second base on Cal Raleigh's first passed ball of the season behind home plate.

But to no avail. The excellent ball game continued.

In the 12th, the Tigers attacked again. They sent their first two batters of the inning to the plate against Gilbert, who was eventually replaced on the mound. A bunt advanced both runners, but Zach McKinstry was pinned at the plate.

With the bases loaded (Kerry Carpenter had been awarded an intentional walk… and rightly so), Gleyber Torres was pulled on a fly ball to end the half inning.

No one wanted us to go down.

In the bottom of the 12th, Rivas (again) got on base with a walk before moving to second on a naughty throw to first. Then, Victor Robles was hit on the hand on a bunt attempt, the ball fell into play… and the runner made no attempt to go to third.

Who knows why?

The batter was judged to have been hit, so Rivas couldn't have stayed at third base. But he had to at least take a shot.

The umpire recovered by stealing a base on balls from J.P. Crawford on the next sequence. And finally, Crawford sac flied to his helmet when he returned to the dugout, after being called out on a fly ball in the outfield.

And guess what? The inning ended on a double play right after. #PasCouché #ViveLeCadran #MatchOfPitchers

Back in the 13th inning, Luis Castillo and Jack Flaherty were seen warming up. The Mariners and Tigers had no choice but to consider it, but let's just say a lot of cartridges were used up on this Friday night.

It was Flaherty who came into the game – no doubt to the delight of the Blue Jays – in the bottom of the 13th. He had a hard time finding the strike zone and two guys went to the cushions.

BUT IN VAIN!

The longest deciding game in series history was transported to the 14th inning, when Luis Castillo finally entered the game. It was his first time in relief in his career, and he came in with a runner in scoring position.

But he held down the fort as the sixth starting pitcher to pitch in the game.

After the second Take me out to the ball game (in the 14th) of a game nobody wanted to win, the Mariners sent two guys on base (first and second) with no outs for Cal Raleigh.

The result? Tommy Kahnle had Raleigh hit to the outfield, but the sacrifice fly had both guys facing off. Julio Rodriguez received an intentional walk and Jorge Polanco came to the plate with only one out. He didn't miss. #Walkoff

So the Seattle Mariners will be celebrating (quickly) before heading to Toronto for the American League Championship Series. It starts Sunday night.

Who'll be pitching? We'll see in due course.

PMLB
  • Great story.

  • The Brewers are dedicated to the task. On an optional day, everyone showed up at the ballpark.

  • Touching scene.

  • 2026 will be Miguel Rojas' last season. At least that's the plan.

This content was created with the help of AI.

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