Mariners Offense Stifled by Tigers Bullpen in ALDS Game One Loss
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - This is unfortunately an all-too-familiar feeling for the Seattle Mariners and their fanbase in recent memory. Their offense didn’t do nearly enough, and that sort of failure at the plate results in a frustrating defeat considering their pitching and crowd at T-Mobile Park did their job. The only difference from that sort of performance over the last few years and this one tonight is that it comes in game one of the ALDS, hosting this series for the first time since their magical 2001 season, where the Mariners also lost the first game of the series before eventually defeating the then Cleveland Indians in five games. Seattle’s best players, Julio Rodríguez and Cal Raleigh, did their part as they accounted for all of the Mariner hits and the two measly runs they pushed across home plate. The rest of the lineup went a paltry 0-32, sending this game deeper into extra innings before the Seattle bullpen finally faltered and gave up the winning run in the 11th. The series is not over yet, but the odds are stacked against the Mariners going forward.
The top of the first inning showcased the sort of electricity and energy that Seattle fans across the region have become infamous for. George Kirby, looking determined to have a strong outing against a Tigers team he’s historically struggled against, seemed ready to go from the jump with swinging strikeouts of Gleyber Torres and Kerry Carpenter. A Riley Greene bloop single in the no-mans land of right-center field spawned the first base runner of the ballgame, but Kirby ensured there was to be no shenanigans early from Detroit as he painted a 98.7MPH sinker on the top right corner of the strike zone to get Spencer Torkelson looking, sending a packed house at T-Mobile Park into a frenzy.
Seattle’s offense provided some early signs of life in the bottom of the first inning, as Cal Raleigh just barely missed a double down the right field line before settling for a single up the middle. While Cal didn’t advance past second, with Julio Rodríguez grounding into a force out to replace him as the runner on first, the Mariners have runners on first and second with two outs following a walk from Josh Naylor. A swift swing from Jorge Polanco lifted the ball into the air in right-center field, but it hung up enough to become a flyout and end the hopes of an early score.
Things in the top of the second weren’t as smooth for George Kirby as they were to kick things off. Colt Keith singled to lead it off and Dillon Dingler drew a walk to put two on right away, showing signs of the Kirby that has struggled historically against this Tigers team. A mound visit from Cal Raleigh seemed to tune George right back up, striking Zach McKinstry out, getting Javier Báez to ground out, and slammed the door on Parker Meadows with a painted sinker high and inside.
From the bottom of the second through to the top of the fourth, the game found a bit of a quiet rhythm. Both teams failed to do anything offensively besides a leadoff double by Gleyber Torres for Detroit in the top of the third, staying stranded at second with no real chance to advance the next 90 feet. The bottom of that fourth is where Seattle fans finally got a chance to cheer for some offense, something they haven’t been able to do in a postseason environment at home since 2001.
The first run of the ballgame came from one of Seattle’s adopted sons, Julio Rodríguez. Tigers starter Troy Melton was nearing the end of his outing, attempting to work Rodríguez on either side of the plate but failing to gain much traction and facing a 2-2 count. The 24-year-old rookie attempted to slip a fastball inside on the top rail to Julio, who promptly punished the ball to straightaway center field. Meadows attempted to track the ball down, but it had enough distance to land safely a few rows deep into the “JROD Squad” and put the Mariners ahead for their first run at home in the playoffs since Stan Javier, who is now the spry age of 61-years-old.
Seattle did not get much time to enjoy their miniscule lead, as a Meadows single in the top of the fifth proved pivotal for the Tigers and what came next. Detroit outfielder Kerry Carpenter, whose four career hits against George Kirby were all home runs, added to his total by connecting with a 97.1MPH sinker above the top of the zone and depositing it into the right field stands. A pitch high and away seemed like something no hitter wants to even sniff at, but Carpenter has seen Kirby well over the course of his career and that continued tonight, a crucial homer for the Tigers that pushed along the need for the Mariners bullpen to begin their shift tonight.
“I came out just the way I wanted to, and limited damage when some guys got on base, which is good, and then kind of one pitch... Yeah, one pitch.”
“I tend to see him well. He’s so good, though. He has great stuff, and in the first inning he was really good, and so — yeah. I’m pretty confident against anybody I go against. I saw — I was seeing him well tonight, especially after that first at-bat. I feel like I got my timing back a little bit. And I just wanted to make sure to get a good pitch to hit that at-bat, because they had a base open, and I didn’t know how they were going to pitch me. And so I felt like I was on time and had a good approach there.”
There was no immediate response from the Seattle offense to the Carpenter home run, just a swift 1-2-3 inning that put the Detroit lineup back in position to strike. The Tigers did create minimal traffic, but nothing to add to their lead which left open the door for the Mariners to respond. It appeared as though the pendulum of momentum was swinging in Seattle’s favor, as a Randy Arozarena walk and Cal Raleigh single put runners on the corners for the man who ended up responsible for all of the Mariners offense. Julio Rodríguez used an inside-out single to right field to drive Arozarena in and tie the game, leaving runners on first and second with no outs. This same sort of situation is where Seattle has added on and pushed ahead to win ballgames this year. The deeper lineup than those in recent memory was supposed to be different. This playoff run is supposed to be different. But at least for tonight, the offense was painted with shades of 2023 and 2024. A double play and fly out ended the inning and that was the Seattle offense for the night, tied at 2-2 heading into the top of the seventh inning.
“A big blast from Julio, able to get some traffic in a couple of different innings, just not able to convert as much as we would have wanted to tonight. But, you know, I thought we had some good at-bats. We did grind, what we do. That’s how we run our offense, is grind out some at-bats, and just weren’t able to get enough back to back to kind of put the damage that we wanted to put up.”
The rest of the ballgame was quick and efficient. Outside of the eighth and eleventh innings, there were no base runners. The eighth saw Detroit get one on thanks to a Spencer Torkelson walk with one out, and Seattle’s Cal Raleigh recorded his third hit of the day with a single in the bottom of the frame before he was left stranded. High leverage innings came and went, former Mariners Rafael Montero and Will Vest appeared in a ballpark familiar to them, and Seattle’s top arms of Matt Brash and Andrés Muñoz did what they’re supposed to do. And then, the eleventh inning came.
Carlos Vargas was tasked with that frame, coming in after Muñoz’s two strong innings of work and other options looking questionable out of the Mariners bullpen. Besides the leadoff walk to Torkelson, it looked like Vargas was going to turn things over to his offense after strikeouts of Wenceel Pérez and Dillon Dingler. A wild pitch pushed Torkelson into scoring position, where a previously 0-4 Zach McKinstry made a playoff moment for himself. The Detroit third baseman poked a single into center field, scoring Torkelson easily and giving the Tigers their winning run of the night. Vargas, who was relied on heavily by Seattle early into the season but has been inconsistent down the stretch, got the final out but the damage had been done. Julio Rodríguez singled in the bottom of the frame with two outs, pushing his hit total in the contest to three, but he was left stranded and a myriad of emotions (None good) overcame the packed house at T-Mobile Park.
“Well, we didn’t steal it. We earned it. I think it was important for us to play this game that was in front of us, and we did a really good job. That was an incredible game, an incredible job, Troy being able to manage his emotions getting into the game. How about our bullpen? That was quite an effort. Used everybody down there but one, and some timely hitting, Carp with a big homer, Z-Mac with a base hit. There’s a lot to like about a win on the road in the playoffs to kick-start a series, and I’m obviously thrilled.”
Quick Mariners notes, from Mariners PR
47,290 was the announced paid attendance at T-Mobile Park for this ALDS Game One between the visiting Detroit Tigers and our Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park.
“Sockeye” the Salmon won tonight’s Mariners “Salmon Run,” recording the first win of the race in the postseason. Humpy finished dead last.
The Yellow Mariners Team Store boat won tonight’s Mariners “Hydro Challenge,” although the boats don’t appear to have the same branding from the regular season anymore.
The Mariners fell 3-2 against the Tigers in the 11th inning of Game 1 of the American League Division Series.
This marked the first time the two teams have faced each other in the Postseason and the first time the Mariners have played a Postseason game since they hosted Game 3 of the 2022 ALDS vs. Houston.
Seattle has home-field advantage in the Division Series, hosting games 1 and 2 of the ALDS at T-Mobile Park on Saturday, Oct. 4 and Sunday Oct. 5…they will also host game 5 (if necessary) on Friday, Oct. 10…all 3 games of the Division Series at T-Mobile Park are sold out.
Julio Rodríguez went 3-for-5 and hit a solo home run in the 4th inning, his 1st career Postseason home run.
At 24 years, 279 days, he is the 2nd-youngest player in Mariners history to hit a home run in the Postseason, trailing only Álex Rodríguez (22 years, 66 days) who homered in Game 1 of the 1997 ALDS.
Across 6 career Postseason games, he is batting .259 (8x28) with 3 doubles, 1 triple, 1 home, 4 RBI, 1 stolen base, and 3 walks…marked his 2nd career multi-hit game in the Postseason (also: Game 1 of the ALDS, 10/11/22 at HOU) and first career 3-hit game in the Postseason.
His 5 extra-base hits across his first 6 career Postseason games are tied with Edgar Martínez for the 2nd-most in Mariners history, trailing only Ken Griffey Jr. who had 6 extra-base hits in the 1995 Postseason.
He is the first player to record 5+ extra-base hits and 4+ RBI in his first 6 career Postseason games since Josh Naylor did so with Cleveland from 2020-22.
Cal Raleigh went 3-for-5, recording 3 hits in his 2nd career Postseason game (also: Game 2 of the 2022 ALWC)…across 6 career Postseason games, Raleigh is batting .296 (8x26) with 1 double, 1 home run, 4 RBI and 2 walks.
Starter George Kirby threw 5.0 innings and allowed 2 runs on 6 hits and 1 home run with 8 strikeouts and 1 walks…he threw 94 pitches (62 strikes) in his 3rd Postseason appearance and 2nd ever Postseason start.
His 8 strikeouts tonight are tied for the 3rd-most by a Mariners pitcher in a Postseason start, alongside Freddy García who did so in the 2000 ALCS and ‘01 ALDS and trail Randy Johnson who recorded 13 strikeouts in the 1997 ALDS and 10 strikeouts in the ‘95 ALDS.
Across 3 Postseason appearances (2 starts) he owns a 1.38 ERA (2 ER, 13.0 IP) with 14 strikeouts to 2 walks allowed.
Kirby started the game by striking out 3 of 4 batters faced in the first inning…he has recorded 3+ strikeouts in an inning 10 times this season…marked his 2nd time in his career with 3 strikeouts in an inning in the Postseason (also: 2nd inning, 10/15/22 in ALDS Game 3 vs. HOU).
He induced 16 swings and misses in his start tonight, which is the 6th-most he has recorded in a game this season.
His 8 strikeouts are the most he has recorded against the Tigers, surpassing his previous 7 strikeouts on Aug. 7, 2024 in his last home start vs. Detroit.
The Mariners bullpen (Caleb Ferguson, Eduard Bazardo, Gabe Speier, Matt Brash, Andrés Muñoz, and Carlos Vargas) combined for 6.0 innings of relief and allowed 1 run on 1 hit with 8 strikeouts and 3 walks…the bullpen held the Tigers scoreless and without a hit through the first 5.2 innings of relief.
Ferguson tossed 0.2 IP and allowed 1 walk with no runs and no hits…across 10 career Postseason appearances and 6.1 innings out of the bullpen, Ferguson has not allowed a run or hit.
Making his Postseason debut, Bazardo entered in the 6th inning and recorded the final out…he has held opponents scoreless in 61 of his 74 total appearances this season.
Speier tossed 1.1 scoreless innings of relief, striking out 2 of 4 batters faced in his Postseason debut…it marked just the 6th time across his 77 appearances this season that he pitched more than an inning (last: 1.1 IP, Aug. 1 vs. TEX).
Across 39 appearances at home this season, including tonight, he owns a 1.54 ERA (6 ER, 35.0 IP) with 2 walks to 56 strikeouts.
Brash entered in the 8th inning and struck out 2 of 3 batters faced across 0.2 IP…in 4 career Postseason appearances he owns a 0.00 ERA (0 ER, 4.0 IP) with 6 strikeouts and has not allowed a hit.
Muñoz tossed 2.0 shutout innings, striking out 2 of 6 batters faced while tossing 25 total pitches (15 strikes)…matched his career-high 2.0 innings pitched (also: 7/18/19 at MIA) and had only gone more than 1.0 inning in one prior game this season, tossing 1.1 innings on May 17 at San Diego.
He has held opponents scoreless in 4 of his 6 Postseason appearances (last: 1.0 IP on 10/15/22 in Game 3 of the ALDS vs. HOU).
In his Postseason debut, Vargas allowed 1 run, 1 hit, 1 walk, and a wild pitch while striking out 2 batters…he recorded 2+ strikeouts for the 14th time this season.
What’s next?
Game two of this American League Division Series between the visiting Detroit Tigers and our Seattle Mariners comes tomorrow, Sunday, October 5th, at 5:03PM PDT on FS1. Detroit will have Cy Young candidate and Seattle University alum Tarik Skubal on the mound to duel Seattle veteran right-handed pitcher Luis “La Piedra” Castillo in what many consider a must win game after dropping tonight’s opening contest of the series. The Mariners have had success this season against Skubal, who has struggled in his more recent outings, but it’s difficult to beat a quality pitcher three times in a row, let alone in the postseason.
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