They continued to stand, hoping for magic, waiting to erupt in celebration.
The anticipation for something more than they’d seen for 10 innings continued to grow.
A sellout crowd of 47,290 at T-Mobile Park stood in the bottom of the 11th Saturday night, with their team trailing by a run and the top of the order coming to the plate.
They couldn’t lose this game. Not with Tigers ace Tarik Skubal waiting for them in Game 2.
But Randy Arozarena grounded out to third. Cal Raleigh popped out in foul territory. When Julio Rodríguez lashed a single up the middle with two outs, the possibility of one swing from Josh Naylor that would turn a looming loss into a victory was palpable.
But that swing from Naylor produced a hard ground out to first base to end a frustrating a 3-2 loss to the Detroit Tigers.
The previous postseason game in Seattle produced 18 scoreless innings of frustration. The 11 innings on a chilly Saturday evening felt similar. The hope of scoring seemed to rely on a homer that never came.
With five other relievers already used, including their four best leverage arms, the Mariners turned to Carlos Vargas to pitch the top of the 11th. Talented but inconsistent, Vargas walked the first batter he faced, Spencer Torkelson. He then advanced him to second, uncorking a wild pitch that got past Cal Raleigh. Vargas came back to strike out Wenceel Perez and Dillon Dingler. But Vargas couldn’t escape the inning unscathed. A first-pitch sinker was punched up the middle by Zach McKinstry, scoring Torkelson for the go-ahead run.
Sporting a mustache that makes him more like the guy who does your taxes or fixes the company’s computer network when it crashes, Mariners starter George Kirby came out firing pitches harder than he has all season, using the adrenaline provided from the intensity of the postseason.
His two fastball variations – two-seam and four-seam – were reaching 98 and 99 mph in the first inning as he struck out three of the first four batters.
The pinpoint command wasn’t quite there, but the pitches were traveling so fast with so much spin and movement, they weren’t getting hit hard or even touched.
Kirby shook off a pair of base runners to start the second inning, striking out McKinstry, getting Javy Baez to ground out to third and freezing Parker Meadows with a 98-mph sinker at the top of the strike zone for a called third strike.
His teammates gave him a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth against Tigers starter Troy Melton.
With a 2-2 count, Rodríguez kept his hands inside a 97-mph fastball above the strike zone, sending a majestic blast into his cheering area the “No Fly Zone” for a solo homer. It turned T-Mobile Park into bedlam.
It was the first run the Mariners had scored in a home playoff game since Stan Javier’s homer in Game 2 of the 2001 American League Championship Series. Javier is now 61 years old.
But a familiar nemesis came calling for Kirby in the fifth inning.
With two outs and Meadows on second base, Kerry Carpenter walked to the plate.
Pitching coach Pete Woodworth made a visit to the mound, and Raleigh remained there, strategizing with Kirby about just how they would treat the Tigers No. 2 hitter.
Why?
Well, against the Mariners and specifically Kirby, Carpenter is some combination of Babe Ruth or Barry Bonds. Perhaps Kerry Bonds?
Coming into the series, Carpenter had a .375/.390/.900 slash line vs. Seattle in 41 plate appearances, including 15 hits (a double, a triple, six homers), 14 RBI, no walks and 14 strikeouts. In eight previous at-bats against Kirby, he had four hits – all of them homers.
Gabe Speier, the Mariners’ best left-handed reliever, was warming quickly in the bullpen. With first base open, Kirby could pitch around Carpenter if needed and let Speier face left-handed hitting Riley Greene.
Carpenter jumped on a first-pitch slider, sending a line drive to right field that was foul by only inches. Kirby ripped a fastball for a called strike at the top corner of the strike zone that Carpenter thought was a ball. Another fastball from Kirby rode the inside corner, but was called a ball, much to the dismay of Kirby and sellout crowd of fans who were clapping in anticipation.
Kirby went back to the sinker again. He fired it four inches above the strike zone. But it didn’t matter because the pitch leaked over the middle of the plate and Carpenter was looking for it. He smashed it into the right field seats for a momentum-killing, two-run homer.
The Mariners answered in the bottom of the sixth. Facing old friend Rafael Montero, who was a relief-pitching catastrophe during his time in Seattle, Arozarena worked a leadoff walk after falling behind 0-2. Montero fired four noncompetitive pitches after getting two strikes. Raleigh worked a 2-0 count and then laced a line drive to deep right-center that allowed Arozarena to race to third. Rodriguez tied the game with a soft single through the right side.
Getting that third inning was a bit of an ordeal. But the Mariners bullpen picked up Kirby.
Andrés Muñoz gave the Mariners every chance to win the game in walkoff fashion. Seattle’s closer worked a 1-2-3 top of the ninth with relative ease. When his teammates went down meekly in the bottom half of the inning, he returned to the mound and worked a 1-2-3 top of the 10th, striking out Greene to end the inning.