The cards were on the table at T-Mobile Park in Game 2 of the American League Division Series as the Seattle Mariners looked to even the series against the Detroit Tigers and one of the best pitchers in baseball in Tarik Skubal. But as Mariners Skipper Dan Wilson said after Game 1, his side has shown resilience all season.
“This was a bounce-back game for us and they did just that. To lose the lead like that and comeback to score a run was huge,” Wilson said postgame. “This is playoff baseball. It’s good to come out on the top side of this one.”
The Mariners more than survived against Tarik Skubal. Thanks to Jorge Polanco, the Mariners would take an eventual 2-0 lead. But Julio Rodriguez was the hero of the night and doubled home Cal Raleigh in the eighth inning when the game was tied 2-2 and put the Mariners on top 3-2.
“The second half, Julio had was tremendous. We’ve seen these great at-bats all along. I think his maturity he has experienced throughout the season has really paid off. We saw it tonight,” Wilson said.
“To stay in that moment and not try to do too much, that says so much about Julio and what he has done for us all season.”
Starting for Seattle was one of their best on the mound as well, Luis Castillo. Over his last four starts, he’s been in postseason form with a microscopic 1.07 ERA in his last four regular season appearances.
Castillo had a shaky start, throwing 51 pitches in his first two innings. But the next two innings were the complete opposite as he needed nine pitches in the third and nine pitches in the fourth to sit the Tigers down in order.
”It was a great ballgame from The Rock, at a time when we really needed it. It seems like he’s done that all along. Down the stretch we had some big wins that he kind of stepped up in. It was another opportunity for him and he did just that,” Wilson said.
Castillo noted a focus on strike one as the focus for helping get his pitch count under control in such a crucial game.
“What changed was the first pitch strike. I mentioned in an interview yesterday that is one of the things we emphasize on. We went in there and made a plan and adjusted to it. We weren’t able to get as far in the game as we wanted to, but that bullpen came in and helped us out,” Luis Castillo said through interpreter Freddy Llanos.
Jorge Polanco in Game 1 went 0-4 and on three of those at-bats he put the ball in play with an exit velocity of over 90 mph. Against Skubal in his second at-bat, he brought the sold-out crowd of 47,371 to their feet as he took a 2-0 slider to left field to give the Mariners a 1-0 lead.
In the fifth, Castillo recorded two outs before being pulled from the game for Gabe Speier with runners on first and third. Speier struck out the danger-man in Kerry Carpenter to end the Tigers’ threat in that fifth inning. Castillo did his patented fist pump celebration from the dugout in honor of the strikeout from the top step of the dugout.
“When Speier came out there, I stayed because I wanted to show my support. Especially in these moments right now, that is the best you can do is show your support. It doesn’t matter who comes out there, you know they are going to do the job,” Luis Castillo said.
Coming into tonight’s contest, Polanco was 7-for-26 against Skubal in 10 games. Before coming to Seattle in 2024, Polanco and Skubal were divisional rivals, as he was a member of the Minnesota Twins. No other Mariner had more than 18 (Randy Arozarena) at-bats against Skubal.
Polanco used that experience to not only hit one home run, but in the bottom of the sixth, he hit a second home run into Edgar’s Cantina for a momentous 2-0 lead.
“He’s such a good baseball player. He’s a grinder. All year long he has been having great at-bats and coming in clutch in so many situations. Today, to have two homers against the best pitcher in the game is awesome. There’s not enough words to describe what he means to the team,” Julio Rodriguez said about Polanco.
Matt Brash entered the game to pitch the top of the eighth inning and the Tigers battled back to tie the game 2-2. A leadoff walk to Gleyber Torres followed by a strikeout brought up Riley Greene, who hit a ground ball that ricocheted off first baseman Josh Naylor’s chest, allowing him to reach base. Spencer Torkelson hit a soft line drive down the first baseline, which got caught up in the padding and allowed Greene to wheel his way home to tie the game.
With the air out of the building, MVP candidate Cal Raleigh laced a 110.9 mph double down the right field line with one out to bring up Rodriguez. On a 1-0 pitch, the Mariner star doubled down the left field line to score Raleigh and take back the lead.
“I feel like in games like this, any situation is clutch. You can win the game in the first three innings, middle of the game or late in the game because every run matters. At the end of the day, people are going to call me whatever they call me. But I feel like the biggest pride I take is helping the team win in any situation I can. That’s what makes me feel good,” Rodriguez said.
“If they want to say I am clutch too, cool. So be it,” Rodriguez said.
Julio has become one of the more consistent hitters through two games this postseason for the Mariners. He is the first player in Major League Baseball postseason history to have an extra base hit in five consecutive postseason games and under the age of 25. He also now holds the longest streak in Mariners history as well, moving one game past Jay Buhner and Ken Griffey Jr.
His eighth inning RBI resembled a last second goal in a soccer game — just pure bedlam in the stands.
“It was huge. After I hit it I kind of looked around and saw everybody jumping around. That made me feel real good, it was an awesome moment,” Rodriguez said.
Andres Munoz entered for the save and closed the door on Detroit, putting the Tigers down in order in the top of the ninth.
Seattle takes to the road for the first time in the postseason since 2022. Logan Gilbert takes the ball for the Mariners in Game 3 with first pitch at 1:03 pm PST at Comerica Park in Detroit.
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