Miguel Cabrera throws out first pitch before Tigers-Mariners Game 3 of ALDS
Detroit Tigers legend Miguel Cabrera threw the first pitch before Game 3 of the ALDS vs. the Seattle Mariners on Oct. 7, 2025 at Comerica Park.
Jack Flaherty leaned forward in the dugout.
He gripped his knees.
He watched intently as reliever Tommy Kahnle prepared to pitch to slugger Cal Raleigh with two outs in the fourth inning, responsible for the runner on second base. He hung his head when Raleigh ripped Kahnle’s first-pitch changeup up the middle and into center field, driving in another run.
The Detroit Tigers lost, 8-4, to the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday, Oct. 7, in Game 3 of the ALDS in the 2025 MLB playoffs at Comerica Park, with Flaherty surrendering four runs (three earned runs) across 3⅓ innings in his second start of the postseason.
ALDS Game 4 looms
With the loss, the Tigers (1-2) must win Game 4 against the Mariners (2-1) on Wednesday (3:08 p.m. if the New York Yankees escaped a sweep in Toronto in Tuesday’s late ALDS game or 7:08 pm. if not, FS1) to avoid elimination. For the Tigers, right-hander Casey Mize is starting the must-win game. After Tuesday’s game, Mariners manager Dan Wilson confirmed right-hander Bryce Miller would make his postseason debut against the Tigers; he did not pitch in either regular-season series against Detroit. The winner of the ALDS will advance to play the Blue Jays or Yankees in the ALCS, which begins Sunday.
The Tigers haven’t won at Comerica Park since Sept. 6 in the regular season.
There was plenty of blame to go around for the Tigers in the Game 3 loss, including struggles from Flaherty, four hits without any walks from the offense over the first eight innings (before three hits and one walk in a three-run ninth) and two errors from the defense.
The Tigers’ offense didn’t support him, but Flaherty — a veteran right-hander who won the 2024 World Series with the Los Angeles Dodgers — allowed four runs (three earned runs) on four hits and three walks with six strikeouts across 3â…“ innings, throwing 76 pitches.
In the ninth, Spencer Torkelson and pinch-hitter Andy Ibáñez cut the Tigers’ deficit to 8-4, thanks to Torkelson’s two-run double and Ibáñez’s RBI single. Both hits came against left-handed reliever Caleb Ferguson.
It was too little, too late.
Logan Gilbert beats Kerry Carpenter
A big moment occurred in the fifth inning.
Kerry Carpenter stepped to the plate for a third time against right-hander Logan Gilbert with runners on the corners and one out. If there was ever a moment for the Tigers to get a game-changing swing, this would’ve been it.
At the time, the Tigers trailed 4-0.
The big swing didn’t happen: Carpenter smacked a slider into the ground and rolled into a force out. To beat Carpenter, Gilbert threw all six pitches — four sliders, one splitter — near the bottom of the strike zone.
Eugenio Suárez blasts home run
The Mariners scored two runs apiece in the third and fourth inning.
The first run came on an error by the Tigers.
After Victor Robles’ leadoff double to the left-field corner, J.P. Crawford smacked a single into left-center. Left fielder Riley Greene made an inaccurate two-hop throw to catcher Dillon Dingler, trying to hold Robles at third base. Robles had already decided to stop, but he took advantage of Greene’s mistake — sprinting home and scoring with a feet-first slide — when the ball skipped past Dingler.
That put the Tigers behind, 1-0, in the third inning.
The next three runs were charged to Flaherty: Randy Arozarena’s RBI single in the third, Eugenio Suárez’s solo home run in the fourth and Raleigh’s single in the fourth.
Suárez — the former Tigers prospect whom the Mariners acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks at the July 31 trade deadline to supplement their offense — received two middle-middle fastballs from Flaherty, even though he crushes fastballs and struggles to hit sliders and curveballs.
The result?
Suárez fouled off the first fastball, then he demolished the second fastball for a 422-foot home run.
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Kerry Carpenter’s error
After four runs off Flaherty, the Mariners extended their lead to 5-1 with Crawford’s solo home run off left-handed reliever Brant Hurter with two outs in the sixth inning.Â
An error in the eighth inning led to another run.
Carpenter — forced to play right field because Colt Keith is limited to designated hitter in his return from injury — failed to catch a routine fly ball induced by right-handed reliever Keider Montero with a runner on first base and one out. The ball skipped off the top of Carpenter’s glove for a fielding error, advancing the runner to third base.
Crawford drove in the runner by delivering a sacrifice fly, which would’ve been the third out had Carpenter not missed what should’ve been an easy flyout.
Just like that, the Mariners had a 6-1 advantage.
The Mariners made it 8-1 on Raleigh’s two-run home run to left-center off right-handed reliever Brenan Hanifee in the ninth.
In total, the Mariners hit three home runs.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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