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Bottom 8th: Righty Will Vest takes over in the eighth inning. After forcing a fly out of J.P. Crawford, Randy Arozarena was hit by a pitch that would’ve been ball four. Vest earns huge swinging strikeouts of Cal Raleigh and Julio RodrÃguez on sliders to escape the danger. Tigers 2, Mariners 2
Top 8th: Matt Brash gets Parker Meadows to ground out and Javier Báez to fly out in quick succession. That’ll bring up Kerry Carpenter and the Mariners go to the bullpen for their closer Andrés Muñoz.
Carpenter works a full-count walk and Gleyber Torres remains patient to walk as well. After a mound visit, Muñoz makes quick work of Riley Greene with a second-pitch pop out. Tigers 2, Mariners 2
Bottom 7th: Righty Kyle Finnegan on in relief, bringing Tarik Skubal’s historic 13-strikeout performance to an end.
Finnegan struggles, walking Jorge Polanco and allowing a two-out single through the infield from Josh Naylor. Mariners bringing in Dominic Canzone to pinch hit for Mitch Garver and the Tigers opt to bring in left Tyler Holton to try and maintain the lead.
Mariners do a double switch, putting righty Leo Rivas in to hit and the move pays off big as he drives his first-ever postseason hit to left field to score Polanco and tie the game. Holton gets out of the inning with a groundout, but it’s level again. Tigers 2, Mariners 2
Top 7th: Matt Brash stays on for the seventh inning. He goes a clean 1-2-3 with a strike out of Colt Keith and line outs from Zach McKinstry and Dillon Dingler. Tigers 2, Mariners 1
Bottom 6th: If that’s the last at-bat for Tarik Skubal, it’s quite the way to go out. On his 99th pitch, Skubal gets Cal Raleigh swinging on a 101 mph fastball down the middle. He’s amped up and the Tigers’ ace has 13 strikeouts in six innings. Tigers 2, Mariners 1
Top 6th: Massive leadoff double from Javier Báez that knocks George Kirby from the game with Kerry Carpenter coming up. Lefty Gabe Speier on to face Carpenter with two hits in two at-bats tonight.
It doesn’t matter, Carpenter goes yard to center field off Speier to give the Tigers the lead. Matt Brash went in to finish off the inning, but it’s Detroit out ahead after the Carpenter blast. Tigers 2, Mariners 1
Bottom 5th: Josh Naylor ends the strikeout streak with a fly out to lead off the inning. He gets back to the tally with a full-count strikeout of Mitch Garver and end the inning with a Victor Robles fly out. Skubal has retired 11 straight, pitch count up to 85. Mariners 1, Tigers 0
Top 5th: Crucial inning to try and generate some traffic on the bases for Kerry Carpenter, but George Kirby keeps them clean, making Zach McKinstry ground out and striking out Dillon Dingler and Parker Meadows. Mariners 1, Tigers 0
Bottom 4th: Tarik Skubal nearly had a flashback to Sunday there as Jorge Polanco got hold of an inside fastball, but it veered foul. He recovers and strikes out Polanco, Julio RodrÃguez and Eugenio Suárez swinging. Seven straight punchouts — a postseason record — and 10 strikeouts in the game for Skubal Mariners 1, Tigers 0
Top 4th: George Kirby recorded a pair of quick outs on Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson before hitting Colt Keith with a wild pitch. But Keith makes his third steal attempt of the season and gets caught out on a perfect throw from Cal Raleigh. Mariners 1, Tigers 0
Bottom 3rd: The Mariners make him earn it with an 18-pitch inning, but Tarik Skubal strikes out the side, now up to seven for the game. Cal Raleigh whiffs at a 101 mph fastball to end the frame. Mariners 1, Tigers 0
Top 3rd: George Kirby still cruising through the Tigers’ lineup outside of Kerry Carpenter. Parker Meadows grounds out and Javier Báez strikes out swinging before Carpenter manages a line drive into right field. Kirby ends the inning getting Gleyber Torres to swing at a 97 mph fastball outside the zone. Mariners 1, Tigers 0
Bottom 2nd: Seattle strikes first. Josh Naylor seemed to make some partial contact with a sinker way outside the zone and it worked exceptionally well for him, going deep down the left-field line. After stealing third, Mitch Garver’s sacrifice fly scores the first run of the game for the home team. Mariners 1, Tigers 0
Top 2nd: Tigers can’t get to George Kirby in the second. Colt Keith, Zach McKinstry and Dillon Dingler all ground out. Only seven pitches needed from Kirby to retire the side. Tigers 0, Mariners 0
Bottom 1st: Tarik Skubal gives up a line-drive single after battling back from 3-0 down to Cal Raleigh. But he locks back in for a three-pitch strikeout of Julio RodrÃguez and a punchout of Jorge Polanco, following his two-homer game against Skubal, to strand the runner. Tigers 0, Mariners 0
Top 1st: Kerry Carpenter gets on base to lead off with a hard-hit ball to J.P. Crawford that he can’t bring in. However, Gleyber Torres is called out on strikes, Riley Greene grounds into a fielder’s choice and George Kirby gets Spencer Torkelson chasing high on a 98 mph fastball. Tigers 0, Mariners 0
Lineups
It comes down to this, do or die time for the Detroit Tigers.
After forcing a decisive Game 5 of the American League Divisional Series against the Seattle Mariners, the Tigers can make it to their first ALCS since 2013 with a win at T-Mobile Park tonight (8:08 p.m. FOX).
The Tigers played the first two games of the series out in Seattle and split the matchups before heading back to Comerica Park to split the next two games, as well.
On the mound for the Tigers is ace lefty Tarik Skubal (13-6, 2.21 ERA) making his third start this postseason and second in the series. In his first outing against the Mariners, he threw seven innings, allowing two runs — on a pair of solo homers to Jorge Polanco — and struck out nine in a Game 2 loss.
Despite Skubal’s status as the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner and likely repeat winner this season, the Mariners have had his number this year, with the Tigers 0-3 in games against Seattle that Skubal started.
On the mound for the Mariners is right-hander George Kirby (10-8, 4.21), who pitched in Game 1 of the series. Kirby went five innings, striking out eight and allowing two runs in what ended up being an extra-innings victory for Detroit.
Even though both pitchers are more than capable of having a long outing, with everything on the line in Game 5, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see either manager empty out the bullpen or go to other starting pitchers if there’s an individual matchup they like more in a key moment of the game.
We’ll have updates throughout the evening on this page.
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