Seattle Mariners manager Dan Wilson often talks about the fight in his players.

The decisive Game 5 of the American League Division Series against the visiting Detroit Tigers on Friday turned into a heavyweight tussle.

Both teams threatened repeatedly in extra innings before Jorge Polanco grounded a single into right field with one out and the bases loaded in the 15th, giving the Mariners a 3-2 victory.

“You can’t say enough about the effort these guys put on the fight,” Wilson said. “To go 15 innings tonight, 15 rounds, so to speak, and to come out on top, that sure feels good.”

Luis Castillo (1-0), making the first relief appearance of his major league career, pitched 1 1/3 innings for the victory, which put the Mariners in the AL Championship Series for the first time since 2001.

Seattle will play the Blue Jays for the pennant in a matchup of 1977 expansion brethren. Game 1 is scheduled for Sunday in Toronto.

J.P. Crawford led off the bottom of the 15th with a line-drive single to right off Tommy Kahnle (0-1). Randy Arozarena was hit by a pitch before Cal Raleigh flied out, with Crawford taking third on a throwing error by center fielder Parker Meadows. After an intentional walk to Julio Rodriguez, Polanco singled on a 3-2 pitch to win it.

“I know we played a long game, but this team never gave up,” Polanco said. “I know there is a lot of emotion, but we are always trying to keep it simple. I’m just trying to go out there and play and trying to get the win.”

Kerry Carpenter hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning to account for all of the Tigers’ offense.

The Mariners tied it at 2-2 in the seventh on pinch hitter Leo Rivas’ RBI single.

Both teams threatened repeatedly in extra innings, with the Mariners grounding into inning-ending double plays in both the 12th and 13th.

“That was an incredible win for them, which means it was an incredible loss for us,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “But I wish them well in the next round. They earned it, and that was an epic game.”

Starters Tarik Skubal of Detroit and George Kirby of Seattle dueled in the early innings.

Skubal, the favorite to win a second consecutive Cy Young Award, allowed one run on two hits and no walks over six innings with 13 strikeouts. He set a major league postseason record with seven consecutive strikeouts, fanning Victor Robles to end the second inning and striking out the side in both the third and fourth.

The only run Skubal allowed came in the second. Josh Naylor lined a double the opposite way into the left field corner with one out, stole third and came home on Mitch Garver’s sacrifice fly to deep center.

Skubal, who threw 99 pitches, retired the final 14 batters he faced before turning the ball over to the bullpen.

The Mariners tied it in the seventh. Polanco drew a one-out walk off reliever Kyle Finnegan. Naylor grounded a two-out single into right, with Polanco stopping at second. After pinch hitter Dominic Canzone was announced, the Tigers turned to left-hander Tyler Holton.

Seattle countered with Rivas, who was celebrating his 28th birthday. Rivas lined a single to left to score Polanco and make it 2-2.

Kirby opened with five scoreless innings before Javier Baez lined a leadoff double to center in the sixth. With the left-handed-hitting Carpenter coming to the plate, Wilson brought in Gabe Speier. That was in large part because Carpenter had five homers in his career against Kirby, including a two-run shot in the fifth inning of Game 1 — which the Tigers won 3-2 in 11 innings.

Carpenter spoiled the strategy, hitting a 1-0 fastball right down the middle 411 feet into the stands in right-center field to give Detroit the lead.

Kirby went five-plus innings and was charged with one run on three hits with no walks and six strikeouts.

“We had an incredible game today that — unfortunately, somebody had to lose, and that somebody was us, and it hurts, you know?” Hinch said. “I mean, that group is — they gave everything they could. You had guys pitching on short rest. You had players giving everything they had because this was Game 5, and we wanted so badly to take the next step, you know, as a team.

“We have nothing to hang our head down on, and there’s going to be plenty of time to talk about, you know, the season, this game, the peaks, the valleys. But I’m extremely proud of that group in there for what we accomplished and how we fought tonight to try to extend our season.”

–Field Level Media