On Oct. 10, the Detroit Tigers and Seattle Mariners met in a winner-take-all Game 5 to determine who would face the Blue Jays in the American League Championship Series.
Detroit was looking to enter its first American League Championship after losing to the Red Sox in 2013, and Seattle is looking to make it to the ALCS for the first time since 2001. Two long-suffering franchises and their fanbases geared up for what turned out to be a postseason classic.
The Tigers got the guy they wanted to start the game, Tarik Skubal, who has been sensational this postseason and is most likely going to win the Cy Young Award.
For the Mariners, it was George Kirby, who is as good as any of the pitchers on Seattle’s pitching staff, to start a winner-take-all game.
Both pitchers had strong first innings, but a sac fly from Mitch Garver gave Seattle an early 1-0 lead in the second.
After that, it was all Skubal, who looked flat-out unstoppable as he ended his outing with 13 strikeouts. Kirby was not too far behind as he was matching Skubal until Javier Báez double to center field would take him out of the game.
As soon as Kirby was taken out, the Tigers would take the lead with a two-run homer from Kerry Carpenter. The Mariners would answer right back in the very next inning with a run batted in single from Leo Rivas that tied the game at 2-2.This is where the game would enter all-time territory as both teams battled back and forth throughout extra innings, where the game could’ve turned on its head at any point.
In the top of the 12th, the Tigers would load the bases with two, but a fly out would keep the game tied.
Then in the 12th and 13th, Seattle would have runners on first and second, but they couldn’t capitalize and win the game.
These two fanbases held their breath on every pitch, as it could’ve been the difference between their season ending or continuing.
Finally, in the bottom of the 15th, the Mariners would load the bases, and an RBI single from Jorge Polanco would send Seattle to their first ALCS in 24 years.
This game would turn out to be the longest winner-take-all game in postseason history, and although the runs weren’t there, everything else was; the emotions from every player and fan in attendance, the timely pitches that were made and the sound defense that was played.
This game was the definition of postseason baseball at its finest.
