WATCH: Jorge Polanco walks it off in the 15th inning, sends Seattle to the ALCS for the first time since 2001
Shoutout Jorge Polanco and the Seattle Mariners.
There’s nothing quite like postseason baseball. Nothing comes close to comparison. After we all suffered through extra innings of Phillies-Dodgers on Thursday night, Game 5 between the Mariners and Tigers went nuclear on Friday night.
Phillies-Dodgers was the perfect reminder that October baseball is about moments, not numbers >>
Fifteen innings. Five starting pitchers used. A combined 472 pitches. Both teams had about six different chances to win it, but in the end, it was Jorge Polanco’s base hit to right field that sent Seattle to the ALCS for the first time since 2001.
Tigers-Mariners was everything we love and hate about October baseball.
Every pitch felt like it came with a free panic attack. Every inning felt like a survival test. It ended with euphoria for Seattle and heartbreak for Detroit.
Before we get into it, the biggest winner here is Toronto. The Blue Jays get to wake up Saturday morning, pour a cup of coffee, and relax while Seattle drags its exhausted, champagne-soaked roster across the border for Game 1.
Skubal Was a Freak — and Then He Was Gone
Tarik Skubal started for Detroit and looked like a literal alien sent from the baseball gods. The man carved. Set the record for most strikeouts in a winner-take-all postseason game. Retired 13 straight at one point and ended his night by absolutely humiliating Cal Raleigh on three pitches.
So naturally… A.J. Hinch pulled him after six innings.
Ninety-nine pitches in, looking like he could throw another 30 in his sleep, and Hinch yanks him. Unless Skubal told him he was done. I really hope was the case because that decision will haunt Detroit fans all winter. The second the bullpen door opened, Seattle pounced.
Free from the demon that was Skubal, the Mariners tied the game immediately.
Extra-Inning Madness
From there, we entered baseball’s version of purgatory. The 10th, 11th, and 12th innings were one long fever dream.
Logan Gilbert mcame out of the pen in the 10th and gave Seattle two massive innings. He even bailed out Cal Raleigh after a passed ball (his first of the entire season) put a runner on second.
Then came the 12th inning, where baseball turned into a circus. Detroit’s bottom of the order started it off with back-to-back hits. Meadows laid down a perfect bunt. So now, bases juiced, one out, and Javy Báez steps in. The moment was set for either heroics or disaster.
Eduard Bazardo chose violence. He sawed Báez off like he was splitting firewood, forcing a weak grounder to third that Eugenio Suárez turned into a throw home. This wasn’t a Trea Turner throw home either. Suárez got the out to save the season.
Bazardo then stranded the runners and escaped the inning — his fifth appearance of the series. The guy pitched in every single game and still found enough gas to strike out the side in the 13th. Absolute lunatic.
The Tigers’ Missed Calls and Near Misses
Of course the umpires joined the party. In the 12th, Victor Robles tried to bunt and the ball clearly hit the bat first, then his hand. Everyone saw it. Replay saw it. Stevie Wonder saw it. They ruled it a hit-by-pitch anyway. Unreal.
Ump Show:
Fortunately, the baseball gods corrected that one almost immediately when Montero fielded a comebacker from Randy Arozarena and turned a picture-perfect double play to end the inning. Remember Thursday night when the Phillies threw the ball into another dimension on a come-backer? Montero was having none of that.
Pitchers on Fumes, Polanco the Hero
By the 14th, even the broadcast booth sounded delirious. Luis Castillo came in for his first-ever relief appearance. Two outs, man on second, Javy Báez at the plate again. Castillo jammed him inside and got the out. Cool as ice.
Then came the moment. In 15th inning, Jorge Polanco, the man who hadn’t done much all series, finally delivered the dagger.
Jorge Polanco delivered clean single to right field. Ballgame. Mariners win. Tigers lose.
Jorge Polanco Walks It Off In The 15th Inning
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