DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Tigers’ All-Stars stepped up when they were needed the most.
Facing elimination and trailing the Seattle Mariners 3-0 in Game 4 of the American League Division Series on Wednesday, the Tigers’ slumbering bats finally regained their thump and forced a winner-take-all Game 5 on Friday in Seattle.
Detroit scored all of its runs after the fourth inning in the 9-3 victory over the Mariners. The Tigers’ nine runs were their most in a postseason game since scoring 13 in Game 6 of the 1968 World Series.
Contributions to the victory came from up and down the lineup. But, it was All-Stars Riley Greene, Javier Báez, Gleyber Torres and Zach McKinstry who fueled the outburst.
Greene, who had gone hitless in his previous 11 at-bats, launched a rocket of relief over the right-center field fence to give the Tigers a 4-3 lead in the sixth.
Greene grounded out his first two times up and heard some boos after those at-bats before his blast off a hanging Gabe Speier slider. The 454-foot homer was the second-longest home run of Greene’s career, regular season and postseason, and longest at Comerica Park since a 453-foot shot by Gleyber Torres on Aug. 29, 2023.
“I haven’t hit a ball like that in a while,” Greene said of his first career postseason homer. “It feels pretty good, and I want to do it more often.”
Greene led the Tigers with 36 home runs, but slumped down the stretch as Detroit squandered a huge lead in the AL Central and finishing a game behind Cleveland.
“He is a tough kid. He’s had to endure a lot,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “I play him every day. He’s in the middle of the order. He gets managed against, and he comes up big right when you need it. So that was a big swing.”
Báez, who wasn’t on Detroit’s postseason roster last season due to injury, drove in four runs. His two-run shot capped the four-run sixth inning that gave the Tigers a 7-3 lead. Baez had just one RBI and one extra-base hit in this postseason before Wednesday.
“I think when everything clicks together, the pitching and the hitting and everything we do as a team, you know, we can be really dangerous,” Báez said.
Torres, who had scored just one run in the postseason despite batting first or second in the order, contributed a solo homer and reached base three times.
McKinstry had gone 1 for 19 in the postseason before his three-hit outing Wednesday, including an RBI single.
“It wasn’t just the big swings,” Hinch said. “I love the big swings. But there’s also some singles in there.”
Putting the ball in play was something the Tigers struggled to do against the Guardians in the Wild Card Series and again in this series. Their offense had struck out more times than any other playoff team. That changed Wednesday, as they struck out just three times.
“Hitting’s contagious and not hitting is also kind of contagious, too,” said first baseman Spencer Torkelson, who had two hits and scored a run.
Now, the Tigers must return to Seattle. But, they’ll have their ace, Tarik Skubal, on the mound. They’ll look to take some offensive momentum along the way.
“We have to figure out a way to score earlier,” Torres said. “I know (Skubal) is awesome, but we have to help him.”
