4 Big Winners and Losers as Mariners, Polanco Walk Off Tigers

The Seattle Mariners outlasted the Detroit Tigers 3-2 on Friday, Oct. 10, claiming their winner-takes-all Game 5 on an RBI single from Jorge Polanco in the 15th inning. A single, a hit batter and an error put two runners in scoring position for Seattle, and Polanco’s single walked off the four hour, 58 minute marathon.

The Mariners’ coaching staff put together a game plan that helped starting pitcher George Kirby blank Detroit for five innings and, besides a two-run hiccup courtesy of a Kerry Carpenter home run in the sixth, Seattle’s bullpen continued to shut the Tigers down long into the night.

The Tigers put up the best individual performances, but they couldn’t come through as a team. Here are the winners and losers from Game 5 as the Mariners advance to face Toronto in the American League Championship Series.

Winner: Kerry Carpenter

Even though they lost the game, the Tigers still managed to put two individual performances on the winners list. Tigers right fielder Kerry Carpenter reached base six times on Friday night, accounting for exactly half of the team’s runners on base. Carpenter went 4-for-5 with a two-run home run that put Detroit in front in the sixth inning, and he added two walks for good measure.

Carpenter’s home run came in part because of a vote of confidence from manager A.J. Hinch, who left him in the game in the sixth even after the Mariners went to left-handed reliever George Speier. Carpenter, a left-handed himself, struggled mightily against lefty arms this season, often inducing Hinch to pull him from the game in such situations. 

Instead, he was more than ready for the moment, plating the only runs Detroit would score with a single swing of his bat.

Winner: Tarik Skubal

Tigers starter Tarik Skubal, who will take home his second consecutive Cy Young Award next month, showed exactly why he’s the best pitcher in the American League on Friday night, mowing through the Mariners for 13 strikeouts across six innings pitched.

Skubal allowed a run in the second inning and responded by striking out seven Mariners batters in a row. Pitching on four days of rest after taking the mound in Game 2, Skubal allowed just two hits on the night and lasted 99 pitches, exiting after Carpenter gave the Tigers a 2-1 lead.

Across three starts and 20.1 innings pitched this postseason, Skubal struck out 36 batters and compiled a lights-out 1.74 ERA. The rest of the Tigers couldn’t match his performance.

Loser: Everyone Else on the Tigers

Kerry Carpenter went 4-for-5 with two walks and a home run; the rest of the Tigers’ lineup went 4-for-46, unable to sniff their leadoff hitter’s performance despite nearly ten times the opportunities to do so.

Detroit went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and, you guessed it, the lone hit came from Carpenter; all eight of those missed opportunities came in extra innings, when a single run could’ve put them in the driver’s seat. On the mound, Kyle Finnegan and Troy Holton combined to blow the save immediately after Skubal left the game. Parker Meadows’ throwing error in the 15th inning helped put two Mariners in scoring position, setting the stage for Polanco’s heroics.

Kerry Carpenter and Tarik Skubal played the game of their lives on Friday night. The rest of the Tigers couldn’t come through.

Winner: George Kirby’s Gameplan

Mariners right-hander George Kirby gave the Tigers a heavy dose of sliders to begin the game, throwing the breaking ball 50 percent of the time — including on 22 of his first 34 pitches. 

Kirby threw his slider 27 percent of the time this season, part of a three-headed monster with his four-seam fastball (29 percent) and his sinker (27 percent). The sudden change mystified Tigers’ hitters, who struck out six times in five innings and charged Kirby for just one run, a leadoff double to Javier Báez that scored after Kirby got the hook.

Pitcher game planning doesn’t receive the same recognition as the strategies that coaching staffs put together in sports like basketball or football, but the Mariners showed just how crucial it can be when done properly on Friday night, and are moving on as a result.