Here are three instant impressions after the Mariners’ 9-3 loss to the Tigers in Game 4 to even their American League Division Series at 2-2 and set up a deciding Game 5 on Friday at T-Mobile Park:
Bullpen backfires
Let’s start here: starter Bryce Miller did his job. Miller pitching into the fifth inning and allowing only four base runners is a completely acceptable performance considering the stage and circumstances.
Miller wasn’t the problem. It was the bullpen. And with it, perhaps the bullpen usage.
Everyone knew Gabe Speier was going to pitch at some point. But was he really needed in the fifth inning against Parker Meadows? The second Speier left the bullpen, Jahmai Jones walked to the plate, and Tigers manager A.J. Hinch won the platoon decision as the double from the right-handed hitting Jones continued Detroit’s rally. Maybe giving Miller the chance to face Meadows and Javier Báez was the better move. Or the M’s could have saved Speier for a little later and gone to Eduard Bazardo and asked him to finish off the fifth.
It would have kept Jones on the bench and slowed the platoon game Hinch is more than happy to play a little bit.
Ultimately, the moves didn’t work because the relievers didn’t make good pitches. Speier hung a slider to Riley Greene, and for the second time this season Greene hit it that pitch a long way. Bazardo hung a breaking ball in the worst spot for the free-swinging Báez and he homered in the sixth.
Bad pitches and maybe questionable usage led to bad results.
Failure to add on
This isn’t entirely on the bullpen. The Mariners had a few opportunities where they could have posted a crooked number in an inning and failed to do so. The biggest miss came in the fourth inning. The M’s had the bases loaded and no outs and managed just one run from the situation and that came when Víctor Robles grounded into a double play.
Two-out hitting is fickle, especially in the postseason. Dominic Canzone — another debatable decision to pinch-hit for him early — came through with a two-out RBI single in the second inning. But the M’s were 0 for 4 in their other opportunities with runners in scoring position and two outs in the game.
Worst nightmare
It’s been talked about since the M’s won Game 2 on Sunday night. Do whatever possible to avoid facing Tarik Skubal again in Game 5.
And yet, the M’s are about to see Skubal in a winner-take-all game, trying to beat the presumptive AL Cy Young Award winner for a fourth time this season.
Possible? Of course. Probable? Eh.
Skubal is exceptional. And frankly, he’s probably more than a little miffed at the Tigers losing Game 2 in part because of the two solo homers he allowed to Jorge Polanco.
The M’s had the opportunity to get a couple extra days of rest and gear up for the ALCS. Instead, it’s now one day of rest if they advance and the nerves and anxiety of a decisive Game 5 that awaits Friday.