10/4/22

(Seattle, WA) The Mariners rolled out some weird lineups and made some unique decisions on Tuesday in a doubleheader with the Detroit Tigers. With the Mariners needing just one win in the final three games to lock up the #5 seed in the American League playoffs, it felt like the M’s would at least luck into a win. However, the Mariners offense had one of their best days of the year as Seattle knocked off the Tigers in both games while making some history along the way.

Game 1- Mariners 7, Tigers 6

Chris Flexen started his first game for the Mariners since August 6th to open up the doubleheader. Detroit made him throw a lot of pitches in his outing and they dealt some damage in the process. Victor Reyes led off the top of the 3rd with his 18th double of the season. Two batters later, Riley Greene laced his 18th double down the right field line to score Reyes and put Detroit on the board 1-0.

Seattle would flex their muscles in the bottom of the 3rd. In his first at-bat since becoming a father, Curt Casali used his newfound dad strength to hit his fifth home run of the season to left field to tie the game 1-1. J.P. Crawford would follow with a walk, but Ty France would strike out swinging for the second out. Mitch Haniger would make sure he got to double digits in home runs as he sent his 10th home run into The Pen in center field for a two-run shot. The Mariners then had a 3-1 lead.

Chris Flexen recorded a couple of quick outs in the top of the 4th. Jeimer Candelario reached on an infield single and an error on a throw by J.P. Crawford moved him to second with two outs. It wouldn’t matter what base he was on as Detroit rookie Spencer Torkelson destroyed a baseball as he crushed it to left field for a two-run shot. Torkelson’s seventh home run of the season tied the game up at 3-3.

Flexen was done after four innings due to a high pitch count. Matt Festa took over and gave up a leadoff double to start the top of the 5th, but would then retire the next six batters that he faced. The top of the 7th wouldn’t be so friendly after Torkelson singled to start the inning. Victor Reyes would give Detroit the lead as he hit a two-run shot to right field for his third home run of 2022. The Mariners once again found themselves in a hole trailing 5-3.

Again, Seattle would answer immediately. Alex Lange took over for Eduardo Rodriguez for Detroit and gave up a leadoff single to Adam Frazier. After Curt Casali struck out, J.P. Crawford grounded out to second to move Frazier to second but with two outs. Ty France would cash in with a hard hit ball that would be off the glove of Spencer Torkelson at first base. It kicked far enough away to score Frazier from second and they gave France a hit for an RBI single to make it 5-4. Mitch Haniger would walk to bring up Eugenio Suarez. The two out rally continued as Suarez lined one to left field. Akil Baddoo was in left and has a below average arm which made it easier for Ty France to score to tie the game at 5-5. Carlos Santana walked to load the bases, but Jarred Kelenic would strike out looking to end the inning but it was a successful inning for the M’s.

The Tigers had one baserunner in the final two innings while the Mariners had two but neither team could push across a run so we headed for extra innings. This is where things got weird. Since Seattle needed a rested bullpen for game two and keep everyone fresh for the playoffs, Scott Servais brought in catcher Luis Torrens to pitch the 10th inning. With the ghost runner starting on second, Detroit would score a run after Akil Baddoo and Riley Greene both hit deep sacrifice flies to make it 6-5 Tigers. An error by Abraham Toro kept the inning alive and Harold Castro also reached on an infield single. Kody Clemens then hit a deep fly ball but Mitch Haniger made the catch at the right field wall to end the inning.

Gregory Soto took over for the Tigers in the bottom of the 10th. Eugenio Suarez would be the runner on second for Seattle. Carlos Santana grounded a 2-0 pitch into left field for a single. Suarez would score from second and the game was tied again at 6-6. Jarred Kelenic kept things rolling with a single to center field and Santana would reach third representing the winning run with nobody out. Abraham Toro then had a chance to walk off the game and he would do just that. Toro hit a flyball to center field that was caught by Riley Greene. His throw to the plate would be late as Santana scored from third to give the Mariners a 7-6 win in game one. Luis Torrens became the first position player in Mariners history to record a win on the mound and the first in MLB besides Shohei Ohtani since 2014.

Notable Performences

Tigers

• Victor Reyes- 2-4, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 3 R
• Spencer Torkelson- 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R
• Eduardo Rodriguez (ND)- 6 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO

Mariners

• Mitch Haniger- 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, R, BB
• Carlos Santana- 3-4, RBI, R, BB
• Chris Flexen (ND)- 4 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO
• Luis Torrens (W, 1-0)- 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO

Game 2- Mariners 9, Tigers 6

Game two started 30 minutes after the end of game one and Justus Sheffield made the start after being called up for the doubleheader. It wouldn’t be a pretty top of the 1st for Sheffield as a walk to Akil Baddoo started the inning. He would then get Victor Reyes to lineout before an error by Eugenio Suarez at third put runners on first and second. Jeimer Candelario grounded into a 3-6 fielder’s choice to put runners on the corners with two outs. Sheffield then hit Jonathan Schoop to load the bases but would get out of the jam by getting Kody Clemens to strikeout swinging.

The Mariners loaded the bases in the bottom of the 1st as well with two outs. Julio Rodriguez led off with a single and Jarred Kelenic and Carlos Santana walked with strikeouts by Eugenio Suarez and Cal Raleigh mixed in along the way. Dylan Moore would be the batter and would be hit by a pitch to score J-Rod to give the M’s the 1-0 lead.

After a quiet 2nd inning, both teams woke back up for the 3rd. Detroit had bases loaded with nobody out and Victor Reyes did his job with a sacrifice fly to Adam Frazier in right field for the first out while Baddoo scored and the other runners moved up making the score 1-1 with runners on second and third with just one out. Justus Sheffield got Jonathan Schoop to hit a weak grounder just in front of home plate for the second out while the runners stayed put. Kody Clemens then popped up to Dylan Moore at shortstop to end the inning.

The Mariners took the lead back in the bottom of the 3rd. Eugenio Suarez singled with one out and two batters later Cal Raleigh singled to put runners on the corners with two outs. Dylan Moore stepped up once again with a two out RBI opportunity and he came through once again with a single to center to score Suarez and make it 2-1 Mariners.

Abaraham Toro would hit his 10th home run of the season with a two-run homer in the bottom of the 4th to make it 4-1 Mariners. Detroit answered in a grand response in the top of the 5th. Three straight one out singles by Spencer Torkelson, Jeimer Candelario, and Jonathan Schoop loaded the bases with one out and Kody Clemens coming to the plate. The third time would be the charm for the son of legend Roger Clemens as Kody hit his fifth home run of the season with his first career grand slam. The Tigers had taken the lead at 5-4.

Good things would happen in the bottom of the 5th however as Cal Raleigh destroyed his 27th home run of the season to right to tie the game at 5-5. Seattle then loaded the bases with walks by Dylan Moore and Luis Torrens sandwiched around a single by Adam Frazier. Abraham Toro continued his solid night with a looping line drive to right field that sat down for a base hit. Moore and Frazier scored to give Seattle back the lead at 7-5.

Detroit got one back in the top of the 6th when Spencer Torkelson homered for his eighth of the season to make it 7-6. Torkelson became the first Tiger since 2020 to hit a home run in both games of a doubleheader. Seattle would pull away in the bottom half of the 6th which starter with three consecutive singles by Eugenio Suarez, Carlos Santana, and Cal Raleigh to load the bases with nobody out. Dylan Moore would be hit by a pitch for the second time in the game with the bases loaded to score a run to make it 8-6. This one was much scarier as the pitch hit Moore’s hand and forced Moore out of the game prior to his next at bat. X-rays were negative which was good news after the Mariners lost Sam Haggerty for at least the Wild Card round. Adam Frazier would hit a sacrifice fly to score Santana to make it 9-6 Seattle later in the inning.

The trio of Penn Murfee, Matt Brash, and Diego Castillo retired the final 11 batters they faced with 1-2-3 innings in the 7th, 8th, and 9th to finish off the game and give the Mariners a 9-6 win as they swept the doubleheader.

Notable Performences

Tigers

• Spencer Torkelson- 3-5, HR, RBI, 2 R
• Kody Clemens- 1-4, HR, 4 RBI, R
• Elvin Rodriguez (L, 0-4)- 3.2 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO

Mariners

• Abraham Toro- 2-4, HR, 4 RBI, R
• Cal Raleigh- 3-5, HR, RBI, R
• Dylan Moore- 1-1, 3 RBI, R, BB
• Justus Sheffield (W, 1-0)- 5 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 4 SO

Matt’s Takeaway

This was my first doubleheader in person and it was a weird one. Seeing Luis Torrens not only pitch and get the win but also catch the second game was bizarre. We also saw Carlos Santana play right field in the final inning of game two. The regular season finale might be similar as the team tries to prepare for the playoffs. My biggest takeaway from the game is how much fun it is to go to a game when the team is successful. Everyone is happy and having a fantastic time. Whether it be joking around with fans of the opposing team or celebrating big moments with high fives to everyone in your section, things just feel different. Games are much more special when the team is playing well and we need to savor it whether the Mariners make the playoffs for the next 10 years or not. Enjoy this Mariner fans and lets celebrate together.

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