SEATTLE — The Tigers head home for the first time in two weeks in a position they would’ve taken going into this AL Division Series, let alone when they left Detroit with six games to go in the regular season.
A Division Series tied at a game apiece heading into two games at what will be a rowdy Comerica Park? As manager A.J. Hinch has been saying for weeks, sign me up.
“I think we did our job. We have home field advantage now,” Tarik Skubal said after Sunday’s 3-2 loss in Game 2 at T-Mobile Park. “Obviously you want to win every single game, but that’s just not reality.”
And yet, as the Tigers bid farewell to T-Mobile Park, at least for now, there was an unmistakable feeling of a missed opportunity.
They had Skubal on the mound with a chance to put a headlock on the series. They had an offense showing signs of life after a struggle in Cleveland. And after Spencer Torkelson tucked a line drive inside the right-field line for a two-run double in the eighth inning, they had a new game, nullifying Jorge Polanco’s two-homer effort against the reigning AL Cy Young winner.
Just as quickly as the Tigers had momentum, the Mariners swung it back with consecutive doubles from Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodríguez off Kyle Finnegan, sending the Tigers home with the split.
“We were in the game today, would’ve loved to get that one,” Finnegan said. “But we’re playing good ball. They’ve been two really good games, back and forth. We’re heading back 1-1, series tied, we have our home fans behind us. It stings a little bit. I thought maybe if I go out there and keep it tied, maybe we could have some magic there at the end of the game. But 1-1, could be worse.”
History appears to support that thought. In Division Series with the current 2-2-1 format, teams to earn a split of the first two games on the road before returning home for Games 3-4 have advanced 30 of 48 times (62.5%).
Skubal, facing the only team that beat him twice in the regular season, allowed just five hits over seven innings with a walk and nine strikeouts. But two of those hits were solo homers from Polanco, reinforcing his reputation for power against left-handers. Not since then-Cardinal Paul Goldschmidt on Aug. 25, 2021, had a hitter slugged two home runs off Skubal in the same game.
A 2-0 slider in the fourth inning and a 99.1 mph full-count fastball in the sixth inning loomed as Skubal’s undoing until Detroit rallied.
“He seemed to have seen the ball pretty well from me tonight,” said Skubal, whose 43 strikeouts are tied with Mike Mussina for the second most through a pitcher’s first five career postseason outings, trailing only Bob Gibson’s 47. “He took some changeups down that were just below [the zone]. Generally when I throw it right there and execute it, there’s a good result for me. So it’s a good at-bat.
“Two good swings on baseballs, and that’s how I give up runs today. Other than that, I thought [catcher Dillon Dingler] called a great game. I thought my stuff was really, really good. I thought my execution was great. Just the game of baseball.”
One walk from Matt Brash, one error from first baseman Josh Naylor and one swing from Torkelson reset the game, the line drive just inside the line.
Skubal gave Hinch the deep outing he needed. Once the Tigers tied it, Hinch had a decision to make among his relievers, nearly all of whom covered part of the seven relief frames in Saturday’s 11-inning victory.
Finnegan was the most taxed, having pitched three out of the past four days. He also had faced the same part of the Mariners’ order in Game 1. But he was also the most trustworthy.
“Finnegan was going to pitch in a tie or up game,” Hinch said. “I had Tommy [Kahnle] up if we were in a down game. But at the top of the order, we’re going to attack them with our best.”
Finnegan leaned on his splitter, four of them in a five-pitch strikeout of Randy Arozarena. But Raleigh and Rodríguez both jumped the same pitch to flip the game.
“Felt fine physically, just faced a couple really good hitters,” Finnegan said. “Raleigh jumped on the first pitch. I would say it was a good pitch, not a great pitch, and you have to make great pitches to great hitters. He did a great job there and got a double. Similar story to Rodríguez. Fell behind him 1-0, tried to get a ground ball with the splitter, and just up enough where he could hit it right out of our reach down the line.
“Felt like I was able to do a decent job of damage control there, get a couple big outs and keep us in the game. Just wasn’t able to do my job tonight, especially after we make a huge play to tie the game and get momentum on our side. I have to go in there and put up a zero.”
“We get to go home and get to play in front of the best fans in baseball,” Skubal said. “It’s a 1-1 series. It’s not that we’re satisfied with going home 1-1, but I like to think optimistically, not glass-half-empty in that sense. We did accomplish something by coming here and taking one from them.”
