Tigers 5, Mariners 4: Jose Iglesias delivers walk-off win on Mother’s Day

The Detroit Tigers won in nail-biting fashion on a very happy Mother’s Day in Detroit, as they walked off against the Seattle Mariners and took the series, 5-4.

The main action in today’s game came in the bottom of the ninth inning, as the Tigers entered with the game tied up 4-4. JaCoby Jones, who is beginning to become known for late-inning heroics, led the inning off. With his mother in attendance and “<3 U MOM” written on his eye black, he reached on an infield single as M’s infielders Kyle Seager and Jean Segura collided trying to quickly field a slow bouncer to shortstop. Next, Niko Goodrum — who finished today with three hits, including his second home run of the season — won an eight-pitch battle against Mariners setup man Juan Nicasio, as he laced a single to right field. Goodrum immediately took second on defensive indifference before Jose Iglesias hit a single into center field to give the Tigers another walk-off victory.

The main storyline coming into today’s game was Mariners ace James Paxton. In his most recent outing, “The Big Maple” threw a no-hitter against the Toronto Blue Jays in his native country. Today, he faced a Tigers lineup missing Jeimer Candelario (who is dealing with wrist issues), Nicholas Castellanos (who was hit in the hand by a Felix Hernandez pitch in part two of yesterday’s doubleheader), and of course, Miguel Cabrera and Leonys Martin who are still on the disabled list. Furthermore, the Tigers sent out Blaine Hardy for the spot start today, with Jordan Zimmermann on the disabled list until Wednesday. Odds were higher than ever that Johnny Vander Meer’s unbreakable record would be matched and the Tigers would be embarrassed in today’s game. Thankfully, that did not happen.

Rewinding to the second inning, the action kicked off when Hardy allowed a solo home run to Seager. Further, Paxton began the game with consecutive 1-2-3 innings. In the bottom of the third, however, the impossible happened: three quick hits from three struggling players (Goodrum, Dixon Machado, and Mikie Mahtook) ended Paxton’s dreams of matching Vander Meer, all while the Tigers took a 2-1 lead. The lead did not last for long, as Dee Gordon, Mike Zunino, and Ryon Healy strung together singles to tie the game in the next half inning. Goodrum responded in the bottom of the fifth with his second home run of the year. Mahtook added a run in the seventh as he doubled in Iglesias. After struggling all year long in their opportunities at the plate, Mahtook and Goodrum came up big for Detroit on Sunday.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, missed opportunities on defense cost them the lead in the top of the eighth inning. Setup man Joe Jimenez failed to strand two baserunners to end the inning as Gordon reached base on a two-out error. Afterward, a Segura single that narrowly missed the glove of Iglesias scored two runs to tie the game. With runners on the corners — which quickly turned into runners on second and third as Segura took second base without a throw — Jimenez was able to strike out former Tiger Andrew Romine to end the rally.

After Nicholas Castellanos was hit in the hand by a Felix Hernandez pitch last night, Hardy hit and injured Robinson Cano’s hand in the third inning. The HBP was clearly unintentional, but Cano left the game with a fractured finger. It is unclear how long Cano will miss with the injury. Meanwhile, Hardy made it through 4 ¹⁄₃ innings while allowing eight hits, one walk, and two earned runs.

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