SEATTLE — He’s been the Mariners’ X-factor all year, with sneaky slug potential and has seemingly been right in the thick of things when their offense plays to its ceiling.
Which made Jorge Polanco the perfect player to rise to the occasion on Sunday night in Game 2 of the American League Division Series.
Seattle’s second baseman hit two huge homers off all-world ace Tarik Skubal that gave the Mariners’ pitching staff cushion to operate in a tense showdown that ended in a 3-2 victory for the Mariners to even the series.
Polanco became just the fourth player — and first since 2021 — to homer twice in the same game vs. Skubal, who’s the front-runner to win his second straight AL Cy Young Award and is widely regarded as the best pitcher on the planet.
“We all know what he does,” Polanco said of Skubal, who’d surrendered just two homers on his slider in the regular season and zero homers to a second baseman. “We know what he throws. He’s got pretty good pitches, he’s got a pretty good fastball. I came up there just trying to get a good pitch to hit, just hit to the middle of the field and put it straight on.”
Polanco also became the first Mariners hitter to homer twice in a postseason game since Jay Buhner in Game 3 of the 1995 AL Championship Series.
“I was feeling pretty good,” Polanco said. “I didn’t know what was coming. Like I said, I just have a good approach, stay to the middle so I can recognize the second that it starts.”
Beyond the power, Polanco aided Seattle’s arms with a pair of nifty plays in the field.
In the third, he scooped a one-hopper directly in front of him for the second out to help Luis Castillo go toe-to-toe with Skubal. Then in the fifth, he corralled a grounder to his right and flipped it to shortstop J.P. Crawford for the force at second base and the second out. That set up the tensest at-bat of the night, when Gabe Speier relieved Castillo and shut down Kerry Carpenter — Detroit’s hero from Game 1 — to strand runners on the corners.
This season has represented a resounding rebound for Polanco, who nearly one year ago to the day had just undergone surgery to repair the patellar tendon in his left knee — an injury that he played through for virtually all of 2024, and one that significantly impacted his production. He posted career-worsts in batting average (.213), on-base percentage (.296) and OPS (.654), which led the Mariners to decline a $12 million club option at the outset of free agency last winter.
Yet within a lineup that’s been buoyed by power in 2025, Polanco has quietly been one of the Mariners’ most productive, slashing .265/.326/.495 (.821 OPS) with 26 homers and 78 RBIs.
“We all knew what he was going through, and we all had his back,” said Julio Rodríguez, who backed Polanco with Seattle’s game-winning hit later in Game 2. “We also knew how much he cared about the team last year. And just to see him going through it and showing up every single day, he inspired me a lot, I’ve got to say, just in the way that he went about his business.
“He’s put in a lot of work, and I’m so, so happy that he’s having success again and enjoying the game of baseball that he loves.”
The Mariners knew better than anyone about the limitations he faced in ‘24, which is why they were comfortable bringing him back in free agency on a one-year, $7 million contract that included a $750,000 buyout. That deal also included a vesting player option for 2026, which he achieved last month by accumulating 450 plate appearances — an incentive tied to his health — and which he can now exercise for $6 million.
“That was my main focus during the offseason, just like trying to stay healthy,” Polanco said. “And it’s really motivated me to do it. I just feel really good.”
Given his production this season, however, it’s possible that Polanco instead attempts to test the open market for a more lucrative deal this winter — but he still has plenty left to play for, springboarded by the biggest night of his Mariners career.
