DETROIT, MI - OCTOBER 08: Detroit Tigers SS Javier Baez (28) hits a home run in the sixth inning during the NLDS game between Seattle Mariners and Detroit Tigers on October 8, 2025 at Comerica Park in Detroit, MI (Scott W. Grau / Icon Sportswire / Getty Images)
The Seattle Mariners squandered a 3-0 lead, allowing three homers to the Detroit Tigers in a 9-3 loss that forced a decisive Game 5 in the AL Division Series.
Riley Greene, Javier Báez and Gleyber Torres all homered off three separate bullpen arms for Seattle as the Mariners missed a prime chance to close out the series to advance to the ALCS.
"They were just able to get to our bullpen today, and it's been such a strength, and they have thrown the ball incredibly well all season long," manager Dan Wilson said.
"And one of the things our guys do the best is they bounce back, and we're going to do that. And no better place to do that than going back home and being able to do that at home, and on Friday night we'll do what we need to do."
The Mariners had built a 3-0 lead in the fifth inning behind a solid outing from starter Bryce Miller. A one-out Dillon Dingler RBI double gave the Tigers their first run and chased Miller from the game.
Pinch-hitter Jahmai Jones followed with another double off lefty Gabe Speier to make it a 3-2 game, and Báez's RBI single tied it at 3-3, erasing Seattle's early efforts. Greene's solo home run to right off Speier gave Detroit a 4-3 lead and led to another move to Eduard Bazardo in the bullpen.
"We anticipated the move (to Jones), that they were going to pinch-hit there, but still liked the way Gabe matches up," Wilson said. "And he throws the ball so well and has right-handed, left-handed, doesn't matter, and just – they were able to get to him today."
Zach McKinstry's RBI single made it 5-3, and Báez crushed a two-out slider from Bazardo deep into the seats in left field for a two-run blast and a 7-3 lead.
And the Mariners had no answer against Game 1 starter Troy Melton, and former Mariner Will Vest, who combined for four innings in relief with just a walk and two hits allowed.
The Mariners will now have to beat the Tigers with presumptive AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal on the mound again on Friday in Game 5 to extend their season. Seattle is 3-0 against Detroit in games with Skubal starting this season, but it's a big ask against one of the best pitchers in baseball to win four straight against him to keep the season alive.
"We'll announce (our Game 5 starter) coming up, but I think we've been able to get to Skubal throughout, and we have another chance to do that on Friday," 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."
It was a stunning shift after Seattle had total control of the Tigers through the first four innings behind Miller.
Josh Naylor ripped a hanging sinker from Casey Mize into the right field corner to become the first baserunner of the game. A two-out RBI single to right field from Dominic Canzone was enough to score Naylor from second as the Mariners struck first.
Mize walked Victor Robles as Seattle threatened to do further damage in the inning, but a J.P. Crawford strikeout allowed Mize to escape with just the one run allowed.
Detroit flinched first with manager A.J. Hinch pulling Mize and turning to left-hander Tyler Holton to begin the fourth inning. Mize exited with one run allowed on two hits with two walks and six strikeouts over three innings for Detroit.
Naylor's bouncing shot back to the mount deflected off the glove of Holton and handcuffed Báez at shortstop for a lead-off single. Eugenio Suárez followed with a single to left field and pinch-hitter Mitch Garver battled back from an 0-2 hole to walk and load the bases.
Hinch had to go back to the bullpen to bring in right-handed Kyle Finnegan to face Robles with the bases loaded and the Mariners threatening to throw up a big number.
Finnegan was successful in limiting the damage for the Tigers, getting Robles to ground into a double play that scored Naylor as Seattle extended the lead to 2-0. Finnegan got J.P. Crawford to pop-up to end the threat with just the one run across.
In Detroit's half of the inning, Naylor made a terrific defensive play at first base to help Miller. Naylor snared a hot shot one-hopper from Colt Keith that Torres thought Naylor had caught cleanly. Torres retreated to first base and was tagged out by Naylor, who stepped on the bag to retire Keith as well.
Randy Arozarena led off the fifth inning with a single to left field and moved to second base on a wild pitch from Finnegan. The extra base allowed Arozarena to score on Cal Raleigh's single to right field that gave Seattle a 3-0 lead.
But the Tigers cracked Seattle in the bottom of the fifth inning as they rallied to tie the game at 3-3.
Spencer Torkelson led off the inning with a single off Miller. After a fielder's choice from McKinstry, Dingler's double into the gap in left-center field scored McKinstry all the way from first to get the Tigers on the board.
Seattle manager Dan Wilson quickly pulled Miller and turned to left-hander Speier.
Jones pinch-hit for Parker Meadows and doubled to left field off Speier to score Dingler, and Báez followed with an RBI single to center as the Tigers tied the game at 3-3.
"We knew our season was on the line," Hinch said. "This is not the first elimination game that we've played this postseason, and our guys stayed loose and stayed in the game and came up with some really big pitches and some big swings.
Miller finished with two runs allowed on four hits with no walks and two strikeouts in 4 ⅓ innings pitched for Seattle.
"I thought he used his fastball extremely well. It had good life to it," Wilson said of Miller. "I thought he threw some good splits. It was a really good pitch for him, kind of able to neutralize the lefties as he went through. He was working quickly.
"He was pretty efficient getting through that lineup there, and just they were able to get a couple guys on. It just felt like the right time to go get Gabe and be ready for that left-handed pocket coming up."
Detroit then continued their offensive barrage in the sixth inning to seize control.
Greene crushed a 1-0 slider from Speier deep to right field to give the Tigers their first lead since Game 1.
"It feels great," Greene said. "I haven't hit a ball like that in a while. It feels pretty good, and I want to do it more often."
The home run ended Speier's outing as Wilson turned to Bazardo with no outs in the sixth. Torkelson doubled down the left field line off Bazardo and scored on an RBI single to right from McKinstry as Detroit's lead pushed to 5-3.
Bazardo picked off McKinstry at first base to steal the first out of the inning. Bazardo struck out Dingler looking on the next pitch to quickly get a second out for Seattle to briefly stop the bleeding.
But the Tigers had more in the tank.
Wenceel Pérez doubled into the right field corner and Báez delivered a two-run moon shot to left field off Bazardo to give the Tigers a 7-3 lead.
Game 1 starter Troy Melton carved through the Seattle lineup in the sixth and seventh innings as the momentum fully swung in Detroit's direction.
Torres added an opposite field blast to right field off Vargas to lead off the eighth inning to push the Tigers lead to 8-3.
A lead-off single from Naylor in the eighth led to brief hope of a Seattle rally, but they were erased by a double play ball from Suárez off Melton that snuffed out any threat from the Mariners.
Báez added an RBI groundout in the bottom of the eighth as part of a four-RBI performance for Detroit.
"We've got a lot of resiliency in this club," Raleigh said. "I have confidence in the guys that we're going to go out and play good baseball. I know that's it's going to be tough, but we're up for the challenge and that's what you have to do this time of year is face good pitching, face good teams and there's going to be challenges and bumps in the road and we're up for it for Friday."
The Source: Information in this story is from original FOX 13 Seattle reporting.
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