Tigers nip Mariners in 11 innings to steal Game 1 road victory

SEATTLE — Zach 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 division champion Cleveland in a deciding Game 3, 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.

In the first extra-inning game of this postseason, McKinstry pounced on the first pitch he saw from reliever Carlos Vargas, a 99.6 mph sinker, and grounded it up the middle to score Spencer Torkelson from second base.

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.

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.

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.