Jorge Polanco grounded a single to right field with one out and the bases loaded in the 15th inning, giving Seattle Mariners a 3-2 victory over the visiting Detroit Tigers on Friday in the deciding Game 5 of the American League Division Series.
Luis Castillo (1-0), making his first relief appearance of his major league career, pitched one and one-third innings for the win, allowing the Mariners to advance to the AL Championship Series for the first time since 2001.
Seattle will play the Blue Jays for the pennant in a matchup with their 1977 expansion brothers. The first game is scheduled for Sunday in Toronto.
J.P. Crawford led off Tommy Kahnle (0-1) in the bottom of the 15th on a line drive single. Randy Arozarena was hit by a pitch before Cal Raleigh flied out, and Crawford took third on a throwing error by center fielder Parker Meadows. After a deliberate pass to Julio RodrÃguez, Polanco took the field with the score 3–2 to take the win.
Kerry Carpenter hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning to account for the Tigers' offense.
The Mariners tied the score 2-2 in the seventh with an RBI single by pinch hitter Leo Rivas.
Both teams threatened repeatedly in extra innings, with the Mariners hitting late-inning double plays in both the 12th and 13th innings.
Starters Tarik Skubal of Detroit and George Kirby of Seattle battled in the first innings.
Skubal, the favorite for a second straight Cy Young Award, allowed one run on two hits and no walks over six innings with 13 strikeouts. He set a major league postseason record with seven straight strikeouts, getting Victor Robles to complete the second inning and striking out the team in both the third and fourth.
The only run Skubal allowed came in the second. Josh Naylor hit an opposite-field double into the left field corner with one out, stole third and came home on Mitch Garver's sacrifice fly to deep center.
Skubal, who threw 99 pitches, retired the last 14 batters he faced before turning the ball over to the bullpen.
The Mariners tied the game in the seventh. Polanco singled with one out off reliever Kyle Finnegan and Naylor grounded a two-out single to right with Polanco grounded to second. After reliever Dominic Canzone was announced, the Tigers turned to left-hander Tyler Holton.
The Mariners responded with Rivas, who was celebrating his 28th birthday. Rivas hit a single to left to score Polanco, making it 2-2.
Kirby opened with five scoreless innings before Javier Baez hit a leadoff double to center in the sixth. When Carpenter, a left-handed hitter, came to the plate, Mariners manager Dan Wilson decided to turn to Gabe Speier. That was largely because Carpenter had five career homers against Kirby, including a two-run blast in the fifth inning of Game 1, which the Tigers won 3–2 in 11 innings.
Carpenter screwed up the strategy, hitting a 1-0 fastball straight to center 411 feet into the bleachers in right-center field to give Detroit the lead.
Kirby went over five innings and was charged with one run on three hits with no walks and six strikeouts.
