The wait was finally over — the Mariners were finally hosting the Detroit Tigers for game one of the American League Division Series, after what seemed like an eternity to finally arrive.
But after the dust and excitement settled the night ended in disappointment as the Tigers stole game one in eleven innings to beat the Seattle Mariners, 3-2, on Oct. 4 at T-Mobile Park.
A sold out crowd of 47,290 rocked T-Mobile Park as George Kirby took the mound in the top of the first. Kirby cruised through the first three innings, picking up 8 strikeouts and topping out at a season high of 99.5 mph fastball in the first inning.
Kirby’s final line was 5.0 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 6 H, 8 K in the loss to Detroit, and apart from the one home run, he was dominant.
“I thought he threw the ball well tonight. In the second and third inning he was in a couple jams and really pitched out of it well. I thought his slider had good depth tonight, he threw some good ones down in the zone that kind of disappeared,” Manager Dan Wilson said.
George Kirby throws a pitch against the Detroit Tigers. Photo credit: Ben Van Houten / Seattle Mariners
In terms of the Mariners’ offense, they were facing right hander Troy Melton, who is normally a bullpen arm for Tiger Skipper A.J. Hinch. Melton allowed just one hit through three innings before Julio Rodriguez stepped to the plate for the second time in the bottom half of the fourth.
On a 2-2 count, Rodriguez smacked a solo home run to the JRod Squad out in centerfield for the game’s first runs. It was the first run the Mariners have scored at home in a playoff game since Oct. 19, 2001. Those runs came in a 3-2 loss to the New York Yankees in game two of the American League Championship Series. That’s 8,752 days of long awaited relief as Julio rounded the base to thunderous applause.
“The way he approached tonight, hitting the ball right center there for the home run and being able to use right field a different time, that is where Julio is at his best,” Wilson said.
The elation was short lived. Kirby continued to roll until the fifth inning when Kerry Carpenter came to the plate for his third plate appearance. Entering the game, Carpenter had four hits against Kirby and all four were home runs, the most against any pitcher he has faced.
On a 1-2 pitch with two outs and Parker Meadows (1B) on second base, Carpenter deposited a sinker above the strike zone to right field to give Detroit a 2-1 lead. The crowd was taken right out of the game.
“Carpenter was able to get something up, out of the zone and drive it out of the ballpark,” said Wilson.
“I thought George continued to throw the ball well. With Carpenter you are trying to keep it down in the zone or try to get him to chase up and out of the zone. He was able to get to that one.”
Melton was taken out of the game for former Mariner Rafael Montero, who walked Randy Arozarena to start the bottom of the sixth inning. Cal Raleigh followed Arozarena with a single and Arozarena dove in head first to third creating a chance to tie the game with no outs in the sixth.
The next batter was Rodriguez, who took the first pitch he saw to shallow right field, tying the game. The tie game immediately brought the crowd right back into the game and it seemed that momentum was soon to swing back to the Seattle dugout.
“I thought our offense did a good job coming back to tie the score up and make it tight. That’s what our guys do, we fight we fight and got back into it and just weren’t able to take the lead,” Wilson said.
Rodriguez and Raleigh went a combined 6-for-10 in the one run loss. The rest of the lineup went 0-for-28. Josh Naylor and Arozarena reached with walks and were the only other base runners the entire game.
Seattle went the next five innings with just two players reaching base. Cal Raleigh singled in the eighth and Julio singled in the eleventh as the Mariners offense fell apart in the second half of this game.
In the top half of the 11th, Carlos Vargas entered the game and after a leadoff walk to Spencer Torkelson, Vargas struck out the next two batters. But a wild pitch to Wencel Perez advanced the winning run in Torkelson to second.
Tigers’ nine hole hitter Zach McKinstry singled up the middle on the first pitch he saw, on what was the fourth consecutive first pitch fastball from Vargas.
McKinstry was ready for it.
“Vargy has been good for us all season long and has come up big for us in those kinds of situations. I thought he was the right guy there,” Wilson said.
Apart from the Rodriguez single in that bottom half of the 11th inning, the Mariners went out with a whimper and dropped game one of the series.
The challenge is even harder tomorrow as American League Cy Young favorite Tarik Skubal toes the slab for Detroit. Adjustment must be made and the Mariners have proven two things. They can make adjustments and they can succeed against Skubal as they are 2-0 against the southpaw this season.
“One of our strengths is bouncing back and we have to do that. Skubal is a guy that we have seen a couple times this year. He’s thrown the ball well in Cleveland, we have to come right back tomorrow and bounce back. Our guys are good at that,” Wilson said.
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