McKinstry drives in winner, Tigers take Game 1 in 11 against Mariners

Chris McCosky, The Detroit News on Oct 5, 2025

Published in Baseball

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SEATTLE — If you think about it, in one sense, the Detroit Tigers were playing with house money Saturday.

The Seattle Mariners, who won their first division title since 2001, sat and waited for a week as the wild-card series played out, letting the anticipation and anxiety build for Game 1 of the American League Division Series.

On top of that, they knew they will face presumptive Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal in Game 2.

If there was a pressure gauge on Game 1, the needle was pointing toward the Mariners.

And if it wasn’t before Saturday, it most definitely is now.

The Tigers rolled into T-Mobile Park, released from the binds of a grueling series with the Cleveland Guardians, and grinded out a 3-2 win over the Mariners in 11 innings, stealing Game 1 of the best-of-five ALDS.

Zach McKinstry, in an 0-for-17 skid, delivered a two-out, RBI single off reliever Carlos Vargas, scoring Spencer Torkelson who had walked and advanced on a wild pitch.

McKinstry's single was the Tigers' first since the fifth inning, but the bullpen kept holding off the Mariners. Tyler Holton, Tommy Kahnle and Kyle Finnegan each pitched a scoreless inning.

Will Vest, the former Mariner, set down six straight through the ninth and 10th innings.

The left the bottom of the 11th to Keider Montero. No problem. Montero locked it down, going through the top of the Mariners' order.

The Tigers briefly held a 2-1 lead.

They put Mariners starter George Kirby under duress in both the second and third innings, but couldn’t deliver the big hit, going 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position.

But with one on and two outs in the fifth, Kerry Carpenter smashed a 1-2 sinker, located well above the strike zone, sending it 409 feet into the seats in right field.

Carpenter got a favorable call on an 0-2 sinker that just missed the inside corner. Kirby came back with another 97-mph sinker and even though it was out of the zone, Carpenter put the barrel on it (112.5 mph exit velocity).

It was Carpenter’s fifth career hit off Kirby. All of them have been home runs.

That lead did not last long.

Tigers manager AJ Hinch used lefty Brant Hurter in the fifth and he pitched a clean inning. And with the top of the Seattle order coming up in the sixth, he summoned righty Rafael Montero, who hadn’t pitched at all in the wild-card Series.

Montero, though, has a 29% whiff rate and there is a lot of feast-or-famine with Randy Arozarena, Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodriguez.

But it went poorly for Montero. He walked Arozarena and gave up singles to Raleigh and Rodriguez and the score was tied.

Lefty Holton got the Tigers through the inning with no further damage, thanks to a heady defensive play by shortstop Javier Báez.

With two on and nobody out, Báez fielded a slow chopper by Josh Naylor on the second base side of the bag and alertly moved to tag Rodriguez and threw out Naylor.

The Mariners challenged the call on the tag but it was confirmed.

It was a crisply played, well-pitched game on both sides.

Technically, Troy Melton is a rookie. He’s not even pitched a half season in the big leagues. But you would never know that by the maturity and poise he showed Saturday, making his first postseason start.

He gave the Tigers exactly what they needed, going four full innings and allowing just two hits with four strikeouts.

The one hit changed the scoreboard.

Rodriguez somehow got the barrel of his bat on a 97-mph fastball at the very top of the strike zone and clobbered it. The ball left his bat with an exit velocity of 109.5 mph and flew 413 feet over the wall in center field.

The Mariners hit Melton hard in the first inning. Two balls were scorched at over 100 mph, two others over 90. A lesser pitcher might’ve cowered.

Melton continued to attack the strike zone with 97-mph four-seamers and sinkers. He mixed sliders and splitters, but he was in the mood for some good old country hardball.

He followed up that first inning with a two-punchout second and a nine-pitch third. And he ended his night by striking out Eugenio Suarez with a 98-mph four-seamer to end the fourth.