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Bradford Doolittle
DETROIT — The Seattle Mariners have heard it for years. They are the only team that has never made it to the World Series. After a telltale win in Detroit on Tuesday, the Mariners are one win from getting closer to sending that bit of trivia in obsolescence than they’ve been in 24 years.
All it took was an 8-4 win over the Tigers in Game 3 of the ALDS that gave the Mariners a 2-1 lead in the series and emblematic of what they have become since the roster was boosted by midseason additions.
“Huge game, a lot of momentum,” Mariners starter Logan Gilbert said. “I’ve been saying it for a while: This is the most complete team I’ve been on and seen.”
It was very much a complete victory for the Mariners, who opened an 8-1 lead after a rain delay of nearly three hours before quashing a ninth-inning Tigers rally.
It wasn’t just the pitching of Gilbert or the end of game door slam from closer Andres Munoz or the ongoing long ball heroics of AL MVP candidate Cal Raleigh. It was all of that and more.
“One through nine, guys had good at-bats,” Raleigh said. “And that’s kind of what we’re preaching.”
Gilbert put up seven sterling innings, striking out seven. Raleigh hit his second career postseason home run and first on the heels of his historic 60-homer season. J.P. Crawford enjoyed a perfect night in the nine-hole that included a homer. And trade acquisition Eugenio Suarez launched a home run.
“We’ve been battling all along getting to this point,” Suarez said. “Being one step closer to going to the championship, we’re not done with the job yet. We have to continue playing like this.”
The Mariners got contributions up and down the lineup. They scored on the three long balls but also went 4-for-9 with runners in scoring position and scored two runs in the third thanks to aggressive baserunning. They quashed Detroit’s late push with a game-ending double play.
The Mariners won by getting contributions across the board, from nearly every player and in every phase of the game.
“That’s the team that we are,” Crawford said. “We create chaos, and we keep the line moving.”
Seattle entered the season drawing plaudits for a standout starting rotation and star players in Raleigh and Julio Rodriguezbut there were concerns about lineup depth and offensive consistency.
The Mariners’ offense improved, but the rotation fell short at times because of injury issues to George Kirby and Gilbert. But in July, the team started to get healthier, and before the trade deadline dealt for Suarez and first baseman Josh Naylor. Suddenly, a roster with clear strengths but just as clear holes started to look very complete.
That revised version of the Mariners was on display in Game 3, moving Seattle one win from reaching the ALCS for the first time since 2001. It’s one victory that will erase a little more of so much bad history.
“We got a tough road ahead of us,” Raleigh said. “Really tough pitching tomorrow. You know it’s going to be a challenge. We got to bring it tomorrow. We can’t take a game off.”
The Mariners will send righty Bryce Miller to the mound in Game 4 on Wednesday. He’ll face Detroit’s Casey Mize and a Tigers team that, in scoring three ninth-inning runs that forced Mariners manager Dan Wilson to summon Munoz from the bullpen, showed that they will not go quietly.
“We’ve earned our way here and we’ve had to play more and more back-against-the-wall-type games,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “I know our guys are going to be ready.”
