Before his start in Game 2 of the American League Division Series in Seattle, Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal was extremely affable.
He talked about inviting the entire baseball team from his alma mater of Seattle University to the game, how he used to go Mariners games while in college and even about doing his laundry, as the Tigers had been away from home for nearly two weeks.
Skubal is scheduled to pitch again Friday in the deciding game of the best-of-five series in Seattle, and judging by his demeanor, it’s strictly a business trip.
“I’ll let you guys create the narrative. I’m just going to do what I do best, and that’s play baseball and try to execute pitches,” Skubal said at a news conference after the host Tigers won 9-3 Wednesday in Game 4 to avoid elimination. “The game is still the game. I’ll let you guys write the stories and do your jobs, but you’re not going to get anything from me.”
Skubal bristled after his loss in Game 5 of the ALDS against Cleveland last year was mentioned, but he hasn’t fared any better against the Mariners this season.
The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner lost both of his regular-season starts against Seattle and took a no-decision in Game 2 — a 3-2 Mariners victory — despite allowing just two runs on five hits over seven innings, with one walk and nine strikeouts. Both of the runs Skubal allowed came on solo homers by Jorge Polanco.
“I understand win-or-go-home games are a little bit different, but every game means a ton,” Skubal said. “… I just need to be focused on being pitch-by-pitch and trying to execute the game plan that we’ll create.”
Riley Greene and Javier Baez homered in a four-run sixth inning Wednesday that broke a 3-all tie, and Gleyber Torres added a solo shot in the seventh.
“We knew our season was on the line,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “This is not the first elimination game that we’ve played this postseason, and our guys stayed loose and stayed in the game and came up with some really big pitches and some big swings.”
The Mariners’ bullpen, which except for one blip in a blowout in Game 3 had been stellar in the series, allowed seven runs in 3 2/3 innings Wednesday as Detroit rallied from a three-run deficit.
“They’ve been throwing the ball good all year,” Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh said of Seattle’s relievers. “I have confidence about a bounce-back on Friday, for sure.”
The Mariners announced right-hander George Kirby, who started the opener, will take the mound in Game 5.
Kirby went five innings in Game 1 and allowed two runs on six hits, with one walk and eight strikeouts. The runs came on a shot by Kerry Carpenter, who has five career homers against Kirby.
“Everything kind of just leads up to this moment,” Kirby said. “You’ve got all your best stuff going out there and attacking. And I think everyone’s going to do that, and we’ll just try to put up as many zeros as possible.”
Kirby started an elimination game in the 2022 ALDS against Houston, pitching seven scoreless innings in a game the Mariners lost 1-0 in 18 innings.
“I think these kinds of games are tremendous,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “This is what a lot of us as kids did in the backyard. This is what we imagined, and these kinds of games are exciting on a lot of levels. And having been through it, for George, and being in this situation before certainly helps you kind of tame the emotion and tame it in the right direction and have it work to your advantage.
“I think what we saw in Game 1 of the series (from Kirby) was outstanding … and that’s what we’re looking for (Friday).”
–Field Level Media
