SEATTLE (AP) — Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal turned in a dominant performance Friday night in the first six innings of Game 5 of the AL Division Series in a game that ended hours later with the Seattle Mariners winning 3-2 in 15 innings.
Skubal stepped up with Detroit trying for the franchise’s first appearance in the AL Championship Series since 2013. He struck out 13 while allowing one run and two hits in what turned out to be the longest winner-take-all postseason game by innings.
Kerry Carpenter hit a two-run homer for the Tigers in the sixth, and Leo Rivas responded with a pinch-hit RBI single for the Mariners in the seventh. Jorge Polanco ended it with an RBI single in the 15th.
Skubal, who won the AL Cy Young Award last year, also started Detroit’s 3-2 loss in Game 2. He struck out nine in seven innings, but he surrendered two runs on Polonco’s solo homers.
Skubal was even better in the series finale.
Seattle jumped in front when Josh Naylor doubled, stole third and scored on Mitch Garver’s sacrifice fly in the second. But Skubal took over from there.
He had a streak of seven consecutive strikeouts, setting a postseason record for a single game. The streak ended when Naylor lined to center for the first out of the fifth.
The 28-year-old Skubal struck out Cal Raleigh on a 100.9 mph fastball on his 99th and final pitch of the night.
It was reminiscent of Skubal’s performance during the AL Wild Card Series at Cleveland, when he struck out 14 while pitching 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball in the Tigers’ 2-1 victory in Game 1.
He became the first player in MLB history to record at least 13 Ks in a game twice in the same postseason, according to STATS.
Skubal went 13-6 during the regular season with an AL-low 2.21 ERA. He ranked second in strikeouts with 241.
Skubal was in the same position a year ago, with a chance to pitch the Tigers into the ALCS by winning Game 5 of the Division Series. But he gave up a tiebreaking grand slam to Lane Thomas in the fifth inning of a 7-3 loss at Cleveland.
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