Mariners 5 Tigers, 4: Sleepless in Seattle

A long night ended in the Detroit Tiger’s fourth straight loss as the Seattle Mariners beat the Tigers on a walkoff hit in extra innings. Always extra innings in Seattle, and it never seems to end well.

Seattle Mariners starter Ariel Miranda did his best to remind the Tigers bats of their right to remain silent. They resisted at first, with Ian Kinsler hitting a lead off home run, and Justin Upton cracking a solo shot in the second inning to briefly tie the game back up. But they were eventually handcuffed for the rest of the game as Miranda would set down eleven Tigers’ in a row between the fourth and seventh innings.

However, the Tigers would make things interesting in the eighth. A leadoff single from Kinsler got things going, and he single-handedly played havoc inside the minds and gloves of the Mariners infield as he stole second with no throw, and then came around to score when he went to steal third, and the throw over got away from Kyle Seager. J.D Martinez, who was at the plate with two outs when Kinsler scampered home, launched the game tying home run to deep right-center field.

Greene worked out of near disaster in the bottom of the eigth, strading a pair in scoring position with a wicked, filthy two-seamer to punch out Dyson. The Tigers threatened in the 9th, with Hicks reaching on a leadoff single, but a popped up bunt from Mahtook, and a caught stealing by Romine—pinch running for Hicks—lead to a quickly fizzled inning.

With Alex Wilson struggling recently, and some unwritten rule preventing managers from using their closers in a tied game on the road, Saupold got the call in the bottom of the 9th. The Mariners, apparently not having learned from the Tigers failed bunt, tried one of their own, and also popped out after the leadoff man reached. Saupold nearly picked off the runner anyway but he was ruled safe. The Tigers tried to challenge but were told they could not because ... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Either way, after plunking the next dude because its way past his bedtime and this game was not over, Ausmus called in Justin Wilson who finished off the inning and sent the game to extras.

In extra frames, the Tigers got a man on and Castellanos made a bid to take a two run lead but his deep fly fell just shy of the track,

And then in the bottom of the tenth, the Mariners finally drove home the dagger as Wilson walked Nelson Cruz, and then allowed a shot off the wall in right field from Kyle Seager to walk it off. West coast games are stupid.

Saupold at least had some fun with the Tigers beat writers before the game.

ROARS:

Jordan Zimmermann: Pitched his fourth consecutive quality start, relying again on his newly re-found slider to punch out seven Mariners in his 6 ²⁄₃ innings of work.

JD Martinez: His eighth inning solo shot helped fuel a furious comeback bid.

HISSES:

Daniel Stumpf: He was called in to face the lefty Ben Gammel in relief of Zimmarmann and gave up a home run to him after a nine pitch battle. It was his only batter he faced.

Bunting: Mahtook tried to get down a bunt in the ninth after Hicks reached on a leadoff single, but popped out to the catcher in foul ground. Remember kids, if your manager tells you to bunt, quit.

STREAKS AND INFO:

14 years ago, Miguel Cabrera made his MLB debut, hitting a walkoff home run against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in extra innings.

JD’s solo shot in the eighth gave him 37 home runs in his career with Detroit hit in the seventh inning or later. He has hit 95 total since putting on the Olde English D.

Kirk Gibson is a treasure.

Ah the good old days...