By Cody Stavenhagen, Tyler Kepner and Brittany Ghiroli
DETROIT — The Seattle Mariners are one win away from their first American League Championship Series since 2001, riding a dominant six-inning start from Logan Gilbert to push the Detroit Tigers’ season to the brink in Tuesday’s 8-4 Game 3 win.
While the first two games of the Division Series were both decided by one run — and Game 1 went into extras — Tuesday’s momentum shifted early into the visiting dugout at Comerica Park as Gilbert was masterful. Following a spat of inclement weather that delayed the game’s start by three hours, Gilbert struck out seven and allowed just four hits with no walks as he kept the Tigers flailing at a splitter that’s one of the nastiest pitches in baseball. The 28-year-old Gilbert held Detroit’s Nos. 3-6 batters hitless and continued what has been an impressive showing by a Mariners rotation without ace Bryan Woo this series.
Seattle used a well-balanced attack against Tigers righty Jack Flaherty, getting hits from five different players and scoring a pair of runs in the third and fourth inning to chase Flaherty after 3 1/3 innings. No. 9 batter J.P. Crawford reached base three times, including a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth inning, and drove in another run on a sacrifice fly in the eighth. Cal Raleigh hit a two-run homer in the top of the eighth off Tigers reliever Brenan Hanifee, his first of the series.
Detroit had just one run until Spencer Torkelson’s two-run double off lefty Caleb Ferguson in the ninth. Seattle has a chance to clinch the best-of-five series in Game 4 on Wednesday.
Mariners’ bottom-of-the-order shines
Sluggers Julio Rodríguez, Raleigh and Jorge Polanco were responsible for most of the team’s offense the first two games, but the middle-of-the-order guys gave the M’s a big lift in Game 3. Four of the eight runs scored came from the 7-9 spots, led by a fantastic all-around night for Crawford, who also scored in the third inning and walked in the fourth.
An error set the tone for Detroit’s night
In the third inning, with Victor Robles on second, Crawford slapped a single into right field. Robles got the stop sign after advancing to third base. It seemed, for a moment, like a good break for the Tigers.
Then left fielder Riley Greene came up and skipped a throw into the infield and past cutoff man Zach McKinstry, who didn’t make an effort to stop the ball. Catcher Dillon Dingler, one of the best blockers in the game, should have been able to handle the hop. Instead, the ball jolted past Dingler and trickled behind the plate, where Flaherty corralled it. Robles scored on a close play while Crawford advanced to second and then scored on a Randy Arozarena single. Flaherty — who allowed Robles to reach on an 0-2 curveball and gave up the hit to Crawford on a 1-2 fastball — recovered to limit the third-inning damage to those two runs despite the ugly mishap.
The error was charged to Greene, but blame for the mistake could go all around. The Tigers looked lost for the rest of the night.
Gilbert glides through 6 for Seattle
Gilbert carried the majors’ biggest workload last year, with 208 2/3 innings. But a flexor strain cost him a month and a half earlier this season, and he averaged less than 5 1/3 innings per start — a full inning less than his average in 2024.
Part of that drop in efficiency was because Gilbert’s stuff was so dominant. He averaged 11.9 strikeouts per nine innings, a career-high and the best mark in the majors for pitchers with at least 25 starts. Only eight of those starts lasted six innings or longer.
In Game 3, he completed six innings with ease, fanning seven, walking none and allowing one run and four hits. After shorter starts by teammates George Kirby in Game 1 (5 innings) and Luis Castillo in Game 2 (4 2/3 innings), Gilbert got the game to Seattle’s dominant late-inning relief corps for the bottom of the seventh.
Suárez gets back on track
It won’t count toward a new career high, of course, but Eugenio Suárez made it to 50 home runs. The Mariners’ third baseman, who slugged 49 in the regular season for the second time in his career, unloaded on a Flaherty fastball in the fourth inning, blasting it 422 feet into the left field seats above the bullpens.
It was the first hit of the series for Suárez, who was 0 for 8 with four strikeouts in Seattle but drew a walk from Flaherty in the second inning before connecting in the fourth. Suárez hit only .199/.255/.428 for Seattle after coming over from Arizona in a trade at the deadline, but on Tuesday he reminded everyone just how dangerous he can be.
Tigers continue to struggle at the plate
After Torkelson struck out to end the sixth inning, the Comerica Park crowd booed. The Tigers on Tuesday looked overwhelmed facing Gilbert, but unfortunately their struggles are not new. They have scored more than five runs in a game only once since Sept. 10. Dating to Sept. 6, the Tigers are now 0-8 at home.
Wednesday, the Tigers will hand the ball to right-hander Casey Mize with their season on the line. But regardless of what happens on the mound, the Tigers will need their bats to rediscover life if they want to avoid an early end to their season.
Ferguson flop brings Muñoz into the game
The Mariners entrusted a seven-run lead to Ferguson in the bottom of the ninth. Seemed easy enough, but Ferguson let all four hitters he faced reach base: three pinch-hitters and Torkelson. With the lead down to 8-4 and nobody out, Seattle manager Dan Wilson was forced to use closer Andres Muñoz to finish the game. That has to be a minor victory for the Tigers, who will face elimination on Wednesday having already faced Seattle’s All-Star closer in all three games of this series.
