Tigers turning to Tarik Skubal in Seattle for winner-take-all Game 5 of ALDS

The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner allowed just two solo homers to Jorge Polanco across seven innings in Game 2, but the Mariners squeaked out a 3-2 victory that tied the series.

In fact, all three times Skubal has started against Seattle this year, the Mariners have won. The left-hander has a 4.58 ERA in those games, more than twice as high as his regular-season mark of 2.21.

“I think we’ve been able to get to Skubal throughout, and we have another chance to do that on Friday,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “And offensively, we’ve done some really good things in this series and continue to do some of those things today. So we will certainly be ready on Friday.”

Still, it’s Skubal. He struck out 14 batters against Cleveland in his Wild Card Series outing, showing just how dominant he can be.

And the Tigers are riding all sorts of momentum after scoring the last nine runs for a 9-3 victory Wednesday in Game 4 that set up the decisive Game 5 in Seattle.

For as much as Detroit’s offense has struggled this postseason — it scored 16 runs in its first six games — Wednesday was a glimpse into what the Tigers are capable of when getting contributions throughout their lineup.

Javier Báez, the flashy shortstop in the midst of a resurgent season, homered from the No. 9 spot. He leads the Tigers in batting average this postseason, ranks second in RBIs and is one of five Detroit players to go deep during these playoffs.

Báez, one of the Chicago Cubs’ postseason stars when they won the 2016 World Series, was thrilled to come through for the Tigers in their most recent win.

“It feels great,” Báez said. “Honestly, I wish I was part of it last year, when the team took off. I had to get away for my surgery, but there was a whole plan and a whole reason why I came here, you know?”

The Mariners, meanwhile, hope the pieces that helped them win the AL West and surge into October will be sufficient to top the Tigers and advance to their first American League Championship Series since 2001.

“These guys have done this all season long, where they get in tough situations,” Wilson said. “And they know exactly what to do, and they do fight back, and they do bounce back.”

If the Mariners want their season to continue, though, they’ll need to pounce on Skubal — or at least make life difficult for him — one final time.

Seattle will turn to right-hander George Kirby, who got the ball for Game 1 and also made a memorable start in Game 3 of the 2022 ALDS, tossing seven shutout innings against the Astros.

That game three years was the last elimination game at T-Mobile Park before Friday's matchup.

“I’m really excited once again to take the ball,” Kirby said, “and I’m just going to go out there and give it my all.”

Skubal was in this position last season, with a chance to pitch the Tigers into the ALCS by winning Game 5 of the Division Series. But he gave up a tiebreaking grand slam to Lane Thomas in the fifth inning of a 7-3 loss at Cleveland and was charged with five runs on six hits in six innings.

For all that's on the line, however, Skubal is doing his best not to make too much of the moment, even though he recognizes win-or-go-home games are a little different – especially for a Tigers franchise that hasn’t reached the ALCS in more than a decade, let alone won a World Series since 1984.

“Yeah, this is what competition is all about,” Skubal said. “This is why you play the game, for Game 5s.”

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