DETROIT — With their season on the brink, the much-maligned Detroit Tigers offense finally woke up.
No. 9 batter Javier Báez went 2-for-4, homering and driving in four runs as part of a seven-run stretch in the sixth and seventh innings that propelled the Tigers to a 9-3 comeback win over the Seattle Mariners Wednesday afternoon in Game 4 of the American League Division Series. Riley Greene and Gleyber Torres also homered in Detroit’s strongest offensive showing this October.
A year ago, the Tigers’ rallying call in an improbable playoff run became “Don’t let the Tigers get hot.” And after a listless first half of the game, Detroit’s lineup showed exactly why opponents should fear a sudden reawakening, wrapping out 11 hits from the fifth inning on to erase an early three-run deficit.
The Mariners squandered an early chance to blow the game open, scoring a solo run in the second, fourth and fifth innings. Josh Naylor had three hits, two runs scored and appeared to be telegraphing some of the Tigers pitches from second base. In the end, whether Naylor really had signs or was bluffing, it didn’t matter for the M’s.
The series-evening win sets up a pivotal Game 5 showdown on Friday in Seattle, which could be a rematch of Game 1’s Tarik Skubal and George Kirby.
Redemption for Riley Greene
Before his sixth-inning at-bat, Greene was stuck in an 0-for-9 slide. Many of his at-bats over the past month have been filled with puzzling strikeouts or rollover ground balls. He made a throwing error in Game 3 and had been wearing the brunt of criticism and boos from the Tigers’ fan base.
Tigers manager A.J. Hinch, though, has issued a warning more than once this season: When Greene gets hot, someone will pay for it. Whether this becomes a hot streak is still pending. But Greene lifted a lazy slider deep into the right-centerfield seats to give the Tigers a 4-3 lead and jolt life into the Comerica Park crowd. Greene hit the home run off the left-handed Gabe Speier. Greene’s OPS against left-handed pitching had tumbled to .620 in the regular season. But Wednesday, he connected with the biggest swing of his life.
Tigers’ containment of 4th inning trouble was huge
After a controversial early hook for Tigers starter Casey Mize, the Mariners loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth inning off Tigers reliever Tyler Holton, prompting Hinch to go with late-inning arm Kyle Finnegan. Finnegan escaped nearly unscathed, getting Victor Robles to bounce into a double play and J.P. Crawford to pop up to give the Mariners just one run. The lack of offense would come back to haunt the Mariners.
The Tigers’ offense roars back
Mariners starter Bryce Miller had a 5.68 ERA in the regular season, but he entered Game 4 with a stellar track record against the Detroit Tigers. Miller had never allowed a single earned run in 19 career innings against Detroit. For the first four innings Wednesday, Detroit’s meager offense again looked lost and listless. Trailing 3-0, the crowd was booing the home team. The manager was under fire. The mood was generally awful.
And then … Spencer Torkelson singled. Dillon Dingler doubled. After Mariners manager Dan Wilson lifted Miller in favor of Speier, pinch-hitter Jahmai Jones laced a double down the left-field line, and Báez — the maligned star turned Tigers hero — lined a single to center (after juuust missing a homer foul down the left-field line) to tie the game.
That return to the realm of the living set the tone for what became a five-run victory in Detroit. In the sixth, Báez’s two-run homer served as the de facto knockout punch.
The Tigers head back to Seattle with their ace on the mound. The Mariners have somehow beaten Skubal three times this season. Can they do it a fourth time?
Mariners bullpen falters
Miller still managed to pitch well in his postseason debut, becoming the fourth consecutive Mariner to pitch into the fifth inning and hold the Tigers to two or fewer runs. But the team’s usually trusty bullpen couldn’t hold it there.
Perhaps the Tigers have figured out the Mariners relievers or the element of the unknown in a short series has dissipated. Speier —Seattle’s most trusted lefty — has pitched in three of the series’ four games while Eduard Bazardo has pitched in all four. The duo allowed five runs over five outs.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
