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SEATTLE — Zach McKinstry was banking on Carlos Vargas throwing him a sinker, and that’s precisely what the All-Star third baseman got.
McKinstry singled home the tiebreaking run with two outs in the 11th inning and the Detroit Tigers outlasted the Seattle Mariners for a 3-2 victory in Game 1 of their AL Division Series on Saturday.
Kerry Carpenter hit a two-run homer in the fifth for the resurgent Tigers, who squandered a huge lead in the AL Central and nearly collapsed entirely down the stretch before squeezing into the playoffs.
After winning their Wild Card Series at Cleveland, they can take a commanding 2-0 lead in this best-of-five matchup against AL West champion Seattle with dominant ace Tarik Skubal on the mound Sunday.
“All year long, I feel like we were either down or we were up,” McKinstry said. “We’re up right now, and we’re getting a lot of wins. Things are going our way.”
In the first extra-inning game of this postseason, McKinstry pounced on the first pitch he saw from Vargas, a 99.6 mph sinker, and grounded it up the middle to score Spencer Torkelson from second base.
“I was kind of leaning on the, you know, he was going to throw 80% two-seams. And just kind of leaning on that and knowing what he was going to throw there,” McKinstry said. “Just trying to attack early.”
Torkelson, who walked leading off the 11th, advanced to second on a wild pitch by Vargas earlier in the inning.
Unlike during the regular season, there is no automatic runner placed at second base to begin extra innings in the postseason.
It was the Mariners’ second consecutive postseason loss at home that went extra innings. They were beaten 1-0 by Houston in 18 innings on Oct. 15, 2022.
Will Vest worked two perfect innings for the win, and Keider Montero got three outs for his first major league save. Montero extended the scoreless start to his postseason career and put the finishing touches on seven innings of one-run ball by Detroit’s bullpen.
The Mariners struck first, thanks to a solo homer by Julio Rodríguez in the fourth inning. Rodríguez, fresh off his second season with at least 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases, launched an elevated four-seam fastball from rookie Troy Melton, who was making just his fifth career start.
Seattle’s lead didn’t last long, though. Carpenter capitalized on an elevated fastball from right-hander George Kirby in a two-strike count, depositing it into the right-field seats to give the Tigers a 2-1 advantage.
Left-handed reliever Gabe Speier was warming up in the Seattle bullpen, but manager Dan Wilson elected to have Kirby face the left-handed-hitting Carpenter.
“We thought George continued to throw the ball pretty well there and still had pretty good stuff and a lot left in the tank,” Wilson said, “and he had been in a couple of tough spots earlier, but really pitched out of it well. And, like I said, (Carpenter) was able to get to the one up in the zone.”
It was the fifth career homer for Carpenter off Kirby, making him the fourth player in major league history with five or more hits off a particular pitcher — and all of them home runs. It also was the second career postseason homer for Carpenter, who set a career high with 26 during the regular season.
“I tend to see him well,” Carpenter said. “He’s so good, though. He has great stuff, and in the first inning he was really good. So yeah, I’m pretty confident against anybody I go against. I was seeing him well tonight, especially after that first at-bat.”
Kirby was otherwise sharp in his second postseason start, striking out five across five innings.
Rodríguez ensured the Mariners did not go down easily, poking an RBI single to right in the sixth that tied it at 2.
Seattle closer Andrés Muñoz worked two scoreless innings, the first time he had done so since he was a rookie in 2019 with San Diego.
The Mariners didn’t get hits from any players besides Rodríguez and AL MVP contender Cal Raleigh, who chipped in three singles for his third career three-hit game in the postseason.
“All of our bullpen guys, including Troy, even though Troy started, it was a job well done in an environment where the fans were looking to help them get anything started,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “We would squash the rally every time.”
