For a while on Wednesday afternoon, it looked like the Seattle Mariners were closing in on their first trip to the American League Championship series in 24 years.

But in October baseball, the pendulum swings can be jarring.

Three observations from Mariners’ Game 4 loss to Tigers

After winning Games 2 and 3 of their American League Division series against the Detroit Tigers, the Mariners took a 3-0 lead into the fifth inning of Game 4 at Comerica Park. But it all unraveled after that, as the M’s surrendered seven runs over the next two frames and suffered a 9-3 loss that leveled the best-of-five series at two games apiece.

The series now heads back to Seattle for a deciding Game 5 on Friday at T-Mobile Park.

“Everything’s in front of us,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “And these guys have done this all season long, where they get in tough situations and they know exactly what to do, and they do fight back, and they do bounce back. And I’m not worried about that at all.

“And no better place to do that than at home. So I think we just continue to do the things we’ve been doing and just get back on the right track on Friday.”

Friday’s winner-take-all Game 5 will start either at 1:40 p.m. or 5:08 p.m., depending on the result of Wednesday night’s ALDS matchup between the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees.

If the Yankees win to force a Game 5 in that series, the Mariners-Tigers Game 5 will be at 1:40 p.m. If the Blue Jays win to finish off the Yankees, the Mariners-Tigers Game 5 will move to the primetime slot at 5:08 p.m.

Another Skubal matchup

The Mariners have already beaten Tigers ace Tarik Skubal three times this season. They’ll have to do so once more to keep their World Series dreams alive.

Skubal, who’s widely expected to win his second straight AL Cy Young Award, will get the ball for Detroit in Game 5. The 28-year-old Seattle U product is coming off another spectacular season, having led the majors in both ERA (2.21) and WHIP (0.89), while ranking second in strikeouts (241) and tied for third in opponents’ batting average (.200).

The Mariners faced Skubal in their 3-2 win over the Tigers in Game 2 this past Sunday. The M’s scored two runs on five hits in seven innings against the dominant 28-year-old left-hander, with both runs coming on a pair of solo homers by Jorge Polanco. Polanco was the first player with a two-homer game off Skubal since 2021.

The Mariners also beat Skubal in both of their regular-season matchups. On April 2, the M’s scored three runs in 5 2/3 innings off Skubal in a 3-2 win over the Tigers at T-Mobile Park. And on July 11, the M’s tagged Skubal for four runs in five innings on their way to a 12-3 rout in Detroit.

Can the Mariners make it a perfect 4 for 4 against Skubal on Friday? It certainly won’t be an easy task.

Who will start for the M’s?

Wilson declined to announce the Mariners’ Game 5 starter during his postgame press conference on Wednesday, but it seems likely to be either Game 1 starter George Kirby or Game 2 starter Luis Castillo. It’s possible Seattle could use both of them, with it being an all-hands-on-deck scenario. Kirby would have five days rest after pitching last Saturday, while Castillo would have four days rest after pitching on Sunday.

Kirby allowed two runs over five innings in Game 1, racking up eight strikeouts while scattering six hits and a walk. The 27-year-old right-hander held the Tigers scoreless until surrendering a two-run homer to Kerry Carpenter with two outs in the fifth. It was Carpenter’s fifth homer off Kirby in 11 career at-bats.

Castillo delivered a gritty performance in Game 2. The 32-year-old right-hander struggled with some early control and pitch-count issues, but recovered to throw 4 2/3 scoreless innings before handing the ball over to Seattle’s bullpen. He allowed only one hit – a two-out single in the fifth – and maneuvered around four walks.

More Game 5 magic?

The Mariners are 2-0 all-time in winner-take-all playoff games.

The most memorable, of course, was Game 5 of the 1995 ALDS, when Edgar Martinez’s legendary 11th-inning walkoff double brought home Joey Cora and Ken Griffey Jr. to send the M’s to their first-ever ALCS.

The 2001 Mariners, fresh off their record-setting 116-win regular season, also needed all five games to get past Cleveland in the ALDS. After falling into a 2-1 series hole, they rebounded for a 6-2 win on the road in Game 4 and a 3-1 win at home in Game 5 to advance to the ALCS.

And while it wasn’t technically a playoff game, the 1995 Mariners also beat the California Angles in a one-game tiebreaker to capture the AL West title and advance to the postseason.

More Seattle Mariners postseason coverage

• ALDS is going 5 games: Seattle Mariners lose 9-3 to Tigers in Game 4
• Three things Adam Wainwright said about Seattle Mariners
• Back half of Seattle Mariners’ lineup now making its mark in playoffs
• Jon Morosi: 3 takeaways after Seattle Mariners’ Game 3 ALDS win
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