That's an unfortunate way to end your title hopes. For fifteen innings, the Detroit Tigers fought tooth and nail with the Seattle Mariners in Game 5 of the American League Divisional Series. Unfortunately for Detroit, their team blinked first: a hit by Jorge Polanco eliminated the Tigers from playoff contention and sent the Mariners to the ALCS for the first time since 2001.
After the game, Tigers manager AJ Hinch made sure to give the Mariners their flowers. “An incredible win for Seattle,” he said, per Jeff Riger. “which means it was an incredible loss for us. That was an epic game.”
Game 5 of the Tigers-Mariners game was everything that you could ever want from a do-or-die game. In the first six innings of the game, fans were treated to a pitching duel between two of the best pitchers in the league. Tigers ace Tarik Skubal set a Game 5 record for most strikeouts with 13 strikeouts, emphatically punching out MVP candidate Cal Raleigh for his final out. On the other side, George Kirby pitched five innings and recorded six Ks. Both pitchers allowed one run each.
After that, though, it became a slugfest. The Tigers took the lead in the sixth courtesy of a Kerry Carpenter two-run blast, but they were held scoreless after that. An RBI hit by Mariners pitch hitter Leo Rivas tied the game in the following inning. Both teams would proceed to struggle to get anything going in the next few innings. There were times where both teams threatened to break the deadlock, but that proved to be a far tougher challenge than anticipated.
Hinch was scrutinized heavily for his decisions during the series. Many Tigers fans felt that the decision to pull Skubal before the seventh inning was an awful idea. Skubal was at 99 pitches after six innings of play. That's a high number, but given the high-stakes situation, sending the white-hot pitcher out for at least a few more at-bats was vital. The fact that the Tigers bullpen gave up the game-tying hit after that only fuels the fans' frustrations. In addition, the lack of pinch hitters during the game was questioned, especially with Seattle sending out two pinch hitters in the game.
