Tigers keep season alive, force Game 5 of ALDS vs. Mariners

DETROIT — For weeks, the Tigers have teetered on the edge of seeing their once promising season come to an abrupt stop. With an offensive breakout occurring just in time Wednesday, Detroit now finds itself in the position it hoped to be all along.

Javier Báez homered, stole a base and drove in four runs, leading a midgame offensive surge as the Tigers beat the Seattle Mariners 9-3 in Game 4 and evened the American League Division Series at 2-2.

Riley Greene hit his first career postseason homer, breaking a 3-3 tie to begin a four-run rally in the sixth that was capped by Báez’s two-run shot to left. Gleyber Torres also homered for Detroit, which had hit just two homers in six games this postseason entering Wednesday.

“I’m proud of our guys because today’s game was symbolic of how we roll, you know?” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “It’s a lot of different guys doing something positive, multiple guys.”

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After Seattle grabbed an early 3-0 lead, the Tigers plated three runs in the fifth to tie the score. Báez capped the rally with a 104 mph single a couple of pitches after he just missed a homer on a moon shot that soared just outside the left-field foul pole.

“We knew we had a lot of baseball left, a lot of innings left to play,” Báez said. “We believe, and we’re never out of it until that last out is made.”

Báez is hitting .346 in the postseason with a team-high nine hits, stirring memories of when he helped lead the Chicago Cubs to the 2016 World Series crown. These playoffs have been a high point of Báez’s Detroit career and continue a resurgent season after he hit .221 over his first three seasons with the Tigers.

“World Series champion all those years ago,” Torres said. “He knows how to play in those situations. I’m not surprised but just really happy. Everything he does for the team is really special.”

The Tigers flirted with disaster in the fourth inning when the Mariners loaded the bases with no outs after Hinch pulled starter Casey Mize, who struck out six over three innings, and inserted reliever Tyler Holton.

Kyle Finnegan came on to limit the Mariners to one run in the inning, keeping the game in play and setting the table for what had been an ailing offense. The comeback from the three-run deficit tied the largest postseason rally in Tigers history, a mark set three times before. The record was first set in the 1909 World Series.

Detroit entered the day hitting .191 during the playoffs, with homers accounting for just 17% of its run production. During the regular season, that number was 42%.

“I think hitting is contagious and not hitting is also kind of contagious, too,” said Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson, who chipped in with two hits and a run. “It’s a crazy game that we decided to play, but that’s why I love it so much.”

The deciding Game 5 is Friday in Seattle, and the ebullient Tigers rejoiced knowing who they have lined up to take the hill: reigning AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal, who has a 1.84 ERA with 23 strikeouts over 14⅔ innings in two starts this postseason.

After everything — the Tigers’ late-season swoon that cost them a huge lead in the AL Central and the offensive struggles during the playoffs that hadn’t quite yet knocked them out of the running — Detroit is one win from the ALCS, with the game’s best pitcher ready to take the ball.

“This is what competition is all about,” Skubal said. “This is why you play the game, for Game 5s. I think that’s going to bring out the best in everyone involved. That’s why this game is so beautiful.”

It’s the scenario the Tigers would have drawn up before the season, but even so, they know they can’t take Skubal’s consistent dominance for granted. Everyone can use a little help.

“We’re confident,” Torres said. “We know who is pitching that last game for us. But we can’t put all the effort on him.”