Mariners beat the Tigers 4-3
It is inevitable; no bullpen is perfect, no pitcher can win every game, your fastball will eventually fail you, and you will hang a slider. It is the reality of baseball. Today, baseball has caught up with Brian Woo. And it seems the Mariners have continued to forget that pitchers are, in fact, human, too. Coming into this game, Woo allowed four hits or fewer in 21 of his 30 career starts. Unfortunately, not being a robot, Woo would eventually get touched up. In the face of a bullpen game, the Mariners could produce only one run for the longest time before stealing the game in the final frame.
Woo started the game strong with four perfect innings, tallying six strikeouts in the process. But in the 4th, things began to unravel. Bligh Madris and Justyn-Henry Malloy singles put men on first and second with no outs for the Tigers. Parker Meadows (Yes, Austin Meadows's younger brother) sent a double down the line to drive in one.
Woo seemed to get back on track with his sixth strikeout of the game, getting Dillon Dingler, but he followed that with a double to Zach McKinstry, allowing both runners to score.
The Mariners would scrape one back in the bottom of the 5th with a home run from Luke Raley.
And Woo would even come out to start the 7th. But another single to Meadows and walk to McKinstry would end Woo’s day with three earned runs and seven strikeouts in 6.2 innings.
Yimi García would be called on from the bullpen to stifle the Tigers through the rest of the 7th and 8th, and Chargois for the 9th. Both pitchers combined held the Tigers to no hits and four strikeouts.
Finally, in the 9th, the Mariners came to life. First, Luke Raley reaches on a little swinging bunt single and is sent to third with a single by some MFer named Randy. Strikeouts from Raleigh and Turner have men on first and third with two outs for Polanco, who draws a walk and is pinch ran for by Ryan Bliss. Polo had a spill following a collision at first base earlier in the game; Scott Servais said postgame that the trainers will assess him and that Bliss is here to fill in if needed.
With the bases loaded, Mitch Haniger stepped to the plate, tied for the all-time franchise record for walk-off hits, and he would not leave the game without claiming the record for himself. In a full count, Haniger laced a ball into the gap, which Tigers right fielder Ryan Vilade tried to dive for.
He missed. All three runs score, and the Mariners won.
The Mariners have wrapped up the last game of the series with the Tigers and begin their series tomorrow with the Mets coming into town. This latest high-octane win may be just what this team needs to start playing well consistently. Hopefully, this win could be a turning point for a team that has struggled with offense all year.
