DETROIT — The Tigers will try to live to fight another day … and get the ball back in the hands of their Cy Young winner, Tarik Skubal.
The Mariners will try to win the day … and avoid a rematch with Skubal.
As Game 4 of the American League Division Series arrives — quickly — at Comerica Park on Wednesday afternoon, Seattle has a chance to punch its ticket to its first AL Championship Series since 2001 after taming the Tigers in an 8-4 victory in a rain-delayed Game 3 on Tuesday night.
“We’ve been battling all along getting to this point and being one step closer to going to the championship,” Mariners third baseman Eugenio Suárez said. “And we’re not done with the job yet. We have to continue playing like this.”
In all best-of-five postseason series that have been tied 1-1, the Game 3 winner has gone on to take the series 47 of 66 times (71.2%). In Division Series with the current 2-2-1 format, teams playing Game 4 on the road with a 2-1 edge have advanced 23 of 34 times (67.7%), closing out the series in Game 4 in 19 of those instances.
The Tigers know they have to play better to avoid elimination. An early error, a brief outing from Jack Flaherty and an inability to solve Logan Gilbert all cost them dearly in Game 3. Now, the team that suffered a late-season collapse in the AL Central but learned to survive and thrive in October will be playing with its back against the wall again.
“We’re not going to quit,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “We’re going to play the rest of this series out and see if we can answer the challenge of getting through this lineup and putting up more runs.”
The Tigers will send All-Star starter Casey Mize to the hill opposite Mariners right-hander Bryce Miller, who will be making his first postseason appearance.
But as is always the case in an elimination game, it will be all hands on deck. And that’s true for both teams, as the Mariners will likely be aggressive with their bullpen, given the Thursday off-day that would be looming should the series continue to a decisive Game 5 on Friday in Seattle.
When is the game and how can I watch it?
Game 4 between the Mariners and Tigers will be at 3:08 p.m. ET/12:08 PT on FS1. All series are available in the U.S. on MLB.TV with authentication to a participating Pay TV provider. Games also are available live internationally, although not in Canada. Sportsnet is MLB’s exclusive English language broadcaster in Canada for every Postseason game, while TVA Sports will be covering the entire AL Postseason and the World Series in French and Broadcaster RDS will cover the entire NL Postseason in French.
Who are the starting pitchers?
Mariners: Miller (4-6, 5.68 ERA) has been salivating at this opportunity for three full seasons, having debuted the year after the Mariners’ most recent playoff run in 2022, then being part of the 2023 and 2024 teams that came just short of reaching October. So, this will be his first taste of October, and he’ll get it primarily out of need, as the Mariners are without Bryan Woo while he deals with pectoral inflammation.
Miller, who dealt with bone spurs in his throwing elbow that forced him to the IL twice and led him to making just 18 starts, was available out of the bullpen early in this series but was not utilized. The Mariners’ options boiled down to a rested Miller, a bullpen game or Game 1 starter George Kirby on short rest.
“I stayed on schedule, threw a couple bullpens this week, and it was the plan once we knew Woo was out, that that would probably be the way we go,” Miller said. “So it didn’t mess with my schedule too much.”
Tigers: Mize (14-6, 3.87 ERA) will be starting on six days’ rest after he tossed three innings of one-run ball in Cleveland in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series. Hinch brought the quick hook in part due to command issues, including a pair of walks and an ill-located fastball that George Valera hit deep for a home run. Mize has homer susceptibility — particularly with his splitter — but he also has the swing-and-miss potential to exploit an aggressive lineup. Hinch will likely make a quick decision on which way Mize is leaning to decide whether he sticks with him or makes this essentially a bullpen game.
“I’ll have to be pretty sharp, you know, for sure, like all of us have to be,” Mize said. “But yeah. I think [the Mariners’ power] changes the mindset a little bit. But for the most part, I’m going to do my thing. I’m always going to try to stay on the corners and be below the zone and above it, not in the heart of it. But with lineups that could do damage, you have to be more aware of that, 100 percent.”
Mize was 5-2 with a 3.38 ERA in 10 starts on six or more days of rest during the regular season.
What might the starting lineups look like?
Mariners: Manager Dan Wilson mostly rolled with a lineup exclusively in the same order based on the opposing pitcher’s handedness, and that figures to continue.
Tigers: Hinch has also kept his lineup pretty consistent. The main factor to watch is Kerry Carpenter, who moved up from the No. 2 to spot to the leadoff slot in Game 3 in an attempt to force Wilson to go to his bullpen earlier.
How will the bullpens line up after the starter?
Mariners: Despite an 8-1 lead going into the ninth inning of Game 3, Wilson was forced to use closer Andrés Muñoz after lefty Caleb Ferguson coughed up three runs among the four batters he faced. It wasn’t an ideal situation, because Muñoz pitched two innings in Game 1 and another in Game 2. He was, however, able to stay away from power lefty Gabe Speier, who’s emerged as a key factor in this series. But the other leverage arms — Matt Brash and Eduard Bazardo — also saw an inning apiece in Game 3. That said, it’s all hands on deck, and with Miller sometimes prone to surrendering hard contact, it’s possible that Seattle’s bullpen will be leaned on aggressively, especially with the chance to close out the series and avoid a winner-take-all Game 5 against Skubal.
Tigers: With a workout day on Thursday and Skubal lined up to start Game 5 (if necessary), the Tigers can be aggressive with their bullpen. One option to watch is Troy Melton, who tossed four innings of one-run ball in his Game 1 start but will be available out of the bullpen after resting the last three days.
Any injuries of note
Mariners: This isn’t injury-related, but Josh Naylor is no longer expected to be placed on the paternity list, as he rejoined the team ahead of Game 3 after the birth of his first child. Naylor initially did not fly with the club from Seattle to Detroit.
Who is hot and who is not?
Mariners: Arozarena (.596 OPS in September) and Suárez (in an 0-for-17 slump entering Game 3 dating back to the regular season) each got off the schneid on Tuesday, as the former went 2-for-5 and the latter crushed a 422-foot homer. … Rodríguez didn’t carry over his offensive fireworks from Games 1 and 2, but he has still been one of the sport’s best players for three months. … Ferguson might be running out of leash after forcing Wilson to use Muñoz in the lowest of leverage spots.
Tigers: Torkelson has a two-run double in each of the past two games, and has driven in half of Detroit’s runs in the series. … Carpenter is hitless since his home run in Game 1, and is 1-for-12 with six strikeouts for the series. … Meadows and McKinstry are both 1-for-11 for the series, with four and five strikeouts, respectively.
Anything else fans might want to know?
Mariners: Seattle was three games under .500 (39-42) on the road for the season. But the club finished the regular season by winning seven of its final eight road games, then its first road game of these playoffs.
Tigers: The Tigers have not won a game at Comerica Park since Sept. 6 against the White Sox. They’ve lost their last eight home games.
