SEATTLE – The Detroit Tigers’ season came to an end Saturday morning after a 15-inning marathon loss to the Seattle Mariners.
Tarik Skubal took the ball for the Tigers in this winner-take-all ALDS Game 5, and he was outstanding. Over six innings, he allowed just one run while striking out 13 batters — the most for a pitcher in MLB history in a winner-take-all game.
The only run against Skubal came on a Josh Naylor check-swing double down the left field line. Naylor stole third base and scored on a Mitch Garver sac fly.
That 1-0 lead held until the sixth, when Kerry Carpenter came through once again with a two-run homer to put the Tigers up a run.
When Kyle Finnegan entered for Skubal in the bottom of the seventh, he allowed two batters to reach before getting pulled for Tyler Holton with two outs.
Holton gave up a game-tying hit to Leo Rivas, who was taking his first career playoff at-bat on his 28th birthday.
From there, the bullpens traded punches. Despite a slew of scoring chances on both sides, the game remained deadlocked at 2-2 until the bottom of the 15th.
The Tigers used Finnegan, Holton, Will Vest, Troy Melton, Keider Montero, and Jack Flaherty to get through 14 innings. A.J. Hinch had no choice but to turn to Tommy Kahnle.
Kahnle gave up a leadoff single to the No. 9 hitter, J.P. Crawford. On the very next pitch, he hit Randy Arozarena to put the winning run in scoring position for the likely AL MVP, Cal Raleigh.
Raleigh flew out to center field, but the runners advanced to second and third. An intentional walk to Julio Rodriguez loaded the bases with one out for Jorge Polanco, who singled to right field to walk it off.
It’s the second-straight Tigers season to end with a loss in Game 5 of the ALDS. Detroit overcame a September collapse to eliminate the Cleveland Guardians in the wildcard round before taking the Mariners to the brink in the ALDS.
Now, heading into the final season with Skubal under contract, the pressure will be on the Tigers to capitalize in 2026. They’ll need to add to an offense that went dormant down the stretch and throughout the postseason, especially with runners in scoring position.
Seattle heads to Toronto to take on the No. 1 seed Blue Jays in the ALCS. This was the Mariners’ first playoff series victory in a quarter-century.
In the National League, the Los Angeles Dodgers await the winner of Saturday’s Game 5 between the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers.
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