Detroit Tigers lose to Seattle Mariners: Takeaways from Game 5 of ALDS
Evan Petzold and Jeff Seidel break down the Detroit Tigers’ 3-2 loss to the Seattle Mariners in Game 5 of the ALDS on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025.
SEATTLE — Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal unleashed three fastballs in a row to Seattle Mariners slugger Cal Raleigh with two outs in the sixth inning during Game 5 of the ALDS.
The result?
Skubal flexed and roared, then backpedaled off the mound in celebration of a three-pitch swinging strikeout. For the final pitch, Skubal fired his fastest fastball at 100.6 mph down the middle of the strike zone, but Raleigh couldn’t touch it.
“I felt good,” Skubal said.
The ferocious strikeout ended Skubal’s incredible start in Game 5 of the ALDS, but the Tigers ended up losing, 3-2, to the Mariners on Friday, Oct. 10, at T-Mobile Park. The loss eliminated the Tigers from the MLB playoffs.
“It doesn’t really matter,” Skubal continued. “We lost. I don’t really want to talk about myself right now, to be honest.”
Skubal — the 2024 AL Cy Young winner and the 2025 favorite — allowed one run on two hits and zero walks with 13 strikeouts across six innings against the Mariners. The 28-year-old set a postseason record with seven strikeouts in a row.
He threw 99 pitches.
“It’s tough,” Skubal said. “It’s meant to sting. It’s meant to hurt.”
Why didn’t Skubal return for the seventh inning?
Manager A.J. Hinch explained.
“Easy decision,” Hinch said. “After the fifth (inning), I checked in on him — how he was doing physically and emotionally. We both knew that he had one (inning) left. He emptied his tank and was emotional coming off the mound, and I think that signals exactly where we were in the game. He gave us everything he could. He’s pitched on regular rest now three or four starts in a row. He empties his tank from pitch one. It was an easy decision.”
When Skubal exited, the Tigers controlled a 2-1 lead and needed just nine outs to advance to the ALCS. After Skubal’s exit, the Tigers’ bullpen immediately let the Mariners tie the game with two outs in the seventh inning.
The downfall began with right-handed reliever Kyle Finnegan.
Finnegan — whom the Tigers acquired from the Washington Nationals at the July 31 trade deadline — walked Jorge Polanco with one out, then allowed a single to Josh Naylor with two outs. Those runners created a matchup between left-handed reliever Tyler Holton and pinch-hitter Leo Rivas.
The big moment in the seventh: Rivas, a switch-hitter who batted from the right side of the plate, pulled Holton’s middle-middle changeup for an RBI single into left field, to tie the game at 2.
Another run didn’t score until the bottom of the 15th inning, when Polanco hit a walk-off single against right-handed reliever Tommy Kahnle with the bases loaded and one out — sending the Mariners to the ALCS.
It’s easy to wonder what would’ve happened if Skubal returned for the seventh inning.
“He’s an emotional leader,” Hinch said. “He’s someone who brings it on the field. We’ve asked a lot out of him this season, but specifically this postseason, every five days. You want the ball in his hand, and you want him to represent your club.”
Remember, Skubal had thrown just 99 pitches.
He averaged 16.5 pitchers per inning in Game 5 of the ALDS, a product of the Mariners fouling off 29 pitches.
Skubal set a career high with 108 pitches on June 28, 2022, but he just threw 107 pitches on Sept. 30 in a 14-strikeout performance that lasted 7â…” innings in Game 1 of the AL wild-card series against the Cleveland Guardians.
Could Skubal have gotten to 115 pitches and kept the Mariners from scoring in the seventh inning?
We’ll never know.
“It will hurt for a little bit, and then you got to rechannel that into motivation to make yourself never want to feel that feeling again,” said Skubal, who logged a 1.74 ERA in three postseason starts. “That’s what motivates me – trying to win a World Series. Being on a team that’s playing late into October, that’s the motivation for me. I just want to win. Obviously, we fell short this year, but we’ll be back. I’m confident in that.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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