Seattle Mariners reach ALCS for first time in 24 years after 15-inning classic

By Jamie Barton, CNN

(CNN) — Four hours and 58 minutes after it had begun, the longest winner-takes-all playoff game in MLB history was decided in suitably dramatic fashion on Friday night.

With the bases loaded, one out and a full count, Jorge Polanco – who was 0-for-5 up until that point – sent the 472nd pitch of the night into right field, and sent the Seattle Mariners to their first American League Championship Series (ALCS) in 24 years with a 3-2 win over the Detroit Tigers.

“A lot of emotions since the start of the game,” Polanco reflected afterward. “I know we played a long game, but this team never gives up. I know there is a lot of emotion but we always try and keep it simple and just try and go out there and play.”

Polanco’s single may be the moment that fans will still be talking about in 20 years, but Seattle’s victory in Game 5 of the American League Division Series (ALDS) was defined by an extraordinary night from its pitching staff.

Starters Logan Gilbert and Luis Castillo both pitched in relief for the first time in their major league careers, while relievers Matt Brash and Eduard Bazardo made their longest ever appearances.

There were also contributions from Gabe Speier and Andrés Muñoz, after George Kirby had given up one run in five innings to kick things off.

“I don’t even know where to begin to try to recap all the heroic efforts that went into today. Just from one guy to the next,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson told reporters afterward. “Just an incredible ballgame from top to bottom.”

For the Tigers, another wonderful showing from Tarik Skubal would come to mean nothing. The two-time All-Star gave up one run off two hits and no walks in six innings, striking out 13 – a record number of punchouts for a postseason winner-takes-all game.

His dominance had Detroit 2-1 up after the sixth, in which Kerry Carpenter had hit a two-run homer off Speier.

But Skubal’s subsequent exit would see the Mariners tie the game immediately thanks to one of the evening’s many unlikely heroes.

Leo Rivas, a journeyman minor leaguer who only made his MLB debut last year, stepped up for the first postseason at-bat of his career on his 28th birthday. His single to left field brought home Polanco, and the game was tied again.

“It’s hard,” Rivas said afterward of a career which had seen him wait the best part of a decade for his opportunity. “(Watching) everybody go all the way like that. Most people just give up.

“It’s not easy. I was thinking to give up back then also.”

Rivas’ RBI single took the game to extra innings, where missed opportunities for Seattle in the 10th, 12th and 13th had the crowd at T-Mobile Park fearing a potential repeat of 2022, when the Mariners were eliminated at this stage by the Houston Astros after 18 innings.

J.P. Crawford went 1-for-7 that night, and so it was only fitting that it should be him who touched home off Polanco’s single on Friday to clinch the walk-off victory and begin the wild celebrations.

The Mariners begin their bid to reach a first ever World Series on Sunday, facing off against the Toronto Blue Jays in Canada.

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