The Detroit Tigers came into Wednesday with their backs against the wall, facing elimination against the Seattle Mariners after dropping Games 2 and 3 of the ALDS. For the first couple of innings on Wednesday, it looked like AJ Hinch's ballclub was headed for an unceremonious exit from the postseason as Seattle took a 3-0 lead.
Then, the seemingly impossible happened. The Tigers' bats, which had been missing in action for nearly two months as Detroit saw a massive lead in the AL Central slip away, came alive. Detroit tied the game up with three runs in the bottom of the fifth, capped off with an RBI single from Javier Baez.
In the sixth inning, the Tigers blew the game open. Riley Greene started it off with a 454-foot home run out to right center field. Later in the inning, with the Tigers leading 5-3, Baez launched a no-doubt two-run homer to left to make the score 7-3.
By the end of the afternoon, the Tigers had secured a comfortable 9-3 victory to send the series back to Seattle and extend their season for at least 48 hours.
Not only was this a surprising offensive outburst considering the way the second half of this Tigers season has gone, but it was nearly unprecedented in Detroit playoff history. The Tigers' nine runs on Wednesday are their most in a playoff game since the 1968 World Series, according to The Athletic.
Hinch and company may not need the bats to produce like that on Friday in Seattle if they want to win and advance to the ALCS. Cy Young candidate Tarik Skubal will be on the mound for Detroit, and the Tigers will be hoping for a long, shutdown outing from their ace.
Skubal didn't have his best stuff in Game 2 on Sunday, giving up a pair of home runs to Jorge Polanco on his way to a no decision in a 3-2 Mariners win. However, he is capable of completely blanking even the best of lineups on his best day, making this offense onslaught in Game 4 especially important before Hinch turns back to his best for the winner-take-all contest on Friday.
