For the second game in a row, the American League Division Series between the Seattle Mariners and the Detroit Tigers
For the second game in a row, the American League Division Series between the Seattle Mariners and the Detroit Tigers went down to the wire. Seattle prevailed 3-2 on Sunday, Oct. 5, tying the series thanks to consecutive eighth inning doubles from Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodríguez after Detroit tied the game with a two-run rally earlier in the frame. Second baseman Jorge Polanco homered twice off Cy Young frontrunner Tarik Skubal, who still managed to complete seven strong innings.
Now, the series will head back to Detroit. Here are the winners and losers from Game 2 of the ALDS.
Winner: Jorge Polanco
Mariners second baseman Jorge Polanco tagged the reigning Cy Young winner for two home runs, capitalizing on Skubal’s rare mistakes. The first was a slider breaking towards him in the fourth, a dangerous pitch for a lefty pitcher to throw to a right-handed bat in any situation, but especially without locating it properly.
Polanco’s second home run came in the sixth inning when he worked the count full before punishing a sinker over the heart of the plate. He ended his day going 3-for-5 with three hits and two RBI, doing his best to add insurance in the eighth inning as he legged out an infield single.
Winner: Tarik Skubal
Tarik Skubal got one of the first big breaks of his baseball career in the Emerald City, as the only Division I offer he received out of high school came from the Seattle Redhawks.
The soon-to-be two-time Cy Young winner pitched an excellent game in his postseason return to Seattle. Although he allowed two home runs, Skubal managed to limit the damage to solo shots, and those were the only two runs he allowed across seven innings pitched. All in all, Skubal picked up nine strikeouts to just one walk, allowing five hits across 97 pitches thrown.
After going 7.2 innings on 107 pitches in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series, Skubal could have — and probably should have — stayed on for the eighth inning, but Tigers manager A.J. Hinch decided to turn to his bullpen with the game tied 2-2. The decision backfired as Seattle got to Detroit reliever Kyle Finnegan.
Loser: Kyle Finnegan
Tigers reliever Kyle Finnegan has been excellent for the Tigers since arriving via trade at the deadline, pitching to a 1.50 ERA across 16 appearances for Detroit. Appearing in four of the Tigers’ five playoff games so far, including four in a row to begin the month of October, Finnegan posted a 1.93 ERA in that time.
His lone run allowed this postseason came at a terrible time, however, with the game tied 2-2 in the bottom of the eighth. After striking out Randy Arozarena, Finnegan allowed two doubles on three pitches to Mariners stars Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodríguez, and the Tigers fell behind once more in the blink of an eye.
Later, with runners at the corners, Finnegan managed to limit the damage, inducing a groundball that third baseman Zach McKinstry relayed home to prevent another run from crossing, but the damage was already done.
Loser: Tigers’ Offense
Detroit managed just three hits in support of superstar right-hander Tarik Skubal, wasting another excellent start. Luckily for the Tigers, they managed to draw five walks. They also benefitted from a timely error that put two aboard in the eighth, giving Spencer Torkelson the opportunity to tie the game with an RBI double.
However, Detroit went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position, managing just two hits against a depleted Mariners’ bullpen that pitched six innings in Game 1 and then saw starting pitcher Luis Castillo chased from the game after 4.2 innings.
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