Everything is on the line when the Seattle Mariners host the Detroit Tigers in Game 5 of the American League Division Series on Friday.
The two teams could not have been more different coming into the playoffs: the Mariners surging, the Tigers struggling. None of that matters now. All that matters is who can play the best for nine innings on one day.
To get back to the American League Championship Series for the first time since 2001, the Mariners will have to get past Tigers’ ace and presumed Cy Young Winner Tarik Skubal. The Mariners have beaten the Tigers’ ace three times this season, including a 3-2 win over Skubal in game 2 of this series. They’ll need to figure out a way to do it again after letting the series get to five games when the Tigers beat them 9-3 in Detroit on Wednesday. The Mariners have been using the tagline “Seize the Moment” for their October run. There is no bigger moment than this one.
Last week, I outlined what the Mariners would need to do to knock off the Tigers. They won early, taking game 2 in Seattle to even the series. The rest of the offense outside of Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodriguez has woken up, with Polanco hitting a pair of home runs against Skubal, Eugenio Suarez launching a bomb in game 3, and Josh Naylor and JP Crawford getting untracked. However, they failed to slam the door on the Tigers. In the 4th inning of game 4, up 2-0, the Mariners loaded the bases. However, they only got one run out of the inning and left a runner on third. That left the door open for Detroit. After starter Brad Miller began to falter, the Mariners went to what had been a reliable bullpen. Instead, the next trio of relievers that took the mound for the Mariners (Gabe Speir, Eduardo Bazardo, and Carlos Vargas) turned a two-run lead they inherited into a six-run deficit. The Mariners’ offense, which ground down the first three pitchers the Tigers sent to the mound, then went to sleep against reliever Troy Melton, who tossed three shutdown innings and allowed just one hit.
Instead of wrapping things up and looking ahead to Toronto, the Mariners need to dig deep. No more stranding runners. No more bullpen implosions. No more pulling good players off the field for the sake of a single matchup.
For decades, the Mariners have been a team of “I hope they had fun” or “well, at least they tried.” When they made the playoffs for the first time in 21 years in 2022, they could embrace a “just happy to be here” mentality. Getting swept in the division series against the Astros was ok, because hey, at least they finally made the playoffs.
This year? This year is different. The team went big at the trading deadline. They have the arms, the bats, and the gloves to go all the way. The only thing standing between them and the World Series is themselves. They’ve beaten Skubal before, and they can do it again. No excuses. The Mariners may be back in the playoffs next year. Or they may not. Nothing is guaranteed in baseball. The Mariners of all teams should know that to be true. One year, you are an unstoppable juggernaut rolling toward a World Series that seems inevitable, then suddenly it’s 20 years later and you haven’t made it back to the playoffs since.
The Mariners are no longer a team that should just be happy to be here. They are no longer a team that is just glad to give their fans a chance to cheer on playoff baseball in their home stadium. They are here for a reason.
“We might as well go win the whole f-ing thing,” potential MVP Cal Raleigh said after the team clinched a playoff spot.
They have the means to do just that. Anything else would be a disappointment.
In baseball and in life, you don’t know how many chances you’ll get.
They have their chance to “go win the whole f-ing thing.”
But first, they need to reach the next step.
One game, nine innings, is all that stands in their way.
Time to seize the moment.
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