The Tigers were ready to end their three-game series in Seattle, and hoping to head off with a sweep under their belts. The high from Parker Meadows’ game-saving catch was still being felt tonight, and the team was enthusiastic, though runs would ultimately take a long time to manifest for either team.
The Tigers were digging into their bullpen for a group effort on the mound, and they were up against Bryan Woo for the Mariners, which means you can expect to hear a Rick Flair “WOO” every time he strikes someone out.
Woo was a tough challenger, so fair warning you may want to get used to some runless, scoreless innings ahead. The Tigers went 1-2-3 in the top of the first. Brenan Hanifee was first out of the pen, and had a 1-2-3 inning of his own.
The Tigers were three-up, three-down in the second. In the home half, Jorge Polanco got a two-out walk, but no runs scored.
It was much of the same in the third, with the Tigers going down in order against Woo, then Bryan Sammons came in to relieve Hanifee, and got 1-2-3 himself.
In the fourth, another inning of the Tigers getting set down in order. For the Mariners, Luke Raley got a leadoff walk, then menace Cal Raleigh singled to put two men on. Two outs followed, and no runs scored.
The Tigers got something brewing in the fifth, finally. Bligh Madris and Justyn-Henry Malloy hit back-to-back singles. Hero of the series Parker Meadows doubled to score Madris. Zach McKinstry then got a one-out double to score Malloy and Meadows, putting the Tigers up 3-0.
In the home half the Mariners went down in order.
Onto the sixth inning and the Tigers were back to the old scoreless routine. Unfortunately, the Mariners might have figured out Sammons, as Luke Raley got a one-out solo home run. The damage was limited to the one run though, and Sammon got the remaining two outs.
In the seventh, Parker Meadows got a one-out single, then McKinstry drew a two-out walk. That chased Woo from the game, and he was replaced by Yimi Garcia, who got the final out of the inning. In the bottom half, Gio Urshela replaced Matt Vierling, then almost immediately had a fielding error that allowed Jorge Polanco to reach first. Tyler Holton came in to replace Sammons, and got Mitch Haniger to hit into a double play to end the inning.
The Tigers were 1-2-3 in the eighth. In the bottom half Mitch Garver hit a leadoff single, but was quickly eliminated (well, his pinch runner Leo Rivas was) in a double play.
Heading into the ninth and the Tigers probably wanted to get some insurance runs, but instead they just went down in order. Holton remained in for the ninth, and the Tigers’ biggest problem of the night, Luke Raley, hit a single. That was it for Holton as the tying run came to the plate, and Will Vest was the next to get a call to the mound. Arozarena then hit a single deep into right field to put runners on first and third. Vest got the next two outs, then to keep my blood pressure up, walked Jorge Polanco to load the bases. Then Haniger doubled to score three runs and walk off the game.
Final: Mariners 4, Tigers 3