DETROIT -- They said they were one swing away, one inning away. They insisted they were close to busting out, any moment now.
You can doubt the Tigers at times, but good luck trying to bury them. Once they started swinging Wednesday, they couldn't stop, one after another, like a baseball conga line. Finally ignited, there's no telling where and when the Tigers might stop.
They're headed to Seattle for a winner-take-all Game 5 of the ALDS, with a chance to advance to the championship series. One moment the Tigers were trailing 3-0 in the fifth inning and the Comerica Park crowd was restless and lightly booing. The next moment, they had seven runs on nine hits in two innings and were rolling to a 9-3 victory to tie the series.
Their season on the brink, the Tigers turned it in a blink, and they're in prime position for the next step with Tarik Skubal on the mound Friday night. Suddenly, they didn't look like a team swinging at imaginary breezes, and more like the team with the best record in baseball most of the summer. The Tigers' 13 hits nearly matched their total from the past three games combined (17).
When Riley Greene shook off his struggles and blasted a leadoff home run in the sixth to break a 3-3 tie, it was as majestic as it was momentous. It came off his bat at 111 mph and soared 454 feet into the right-field stands, and the fans roared as if the Tigers had finally broken the seal.
Where, exactly, did this outburst come from? Never ones to waver, they said it was there all along.
"I think recent memory can lead you to think this (offensive woes) is how it's been all season, and it hasn't been," Tigers manager AJ Hinch said. "We have been a good offensive club for a large majority of the season, but because of how we finished and some of the dry spells in September, it just tricks you into believing that we're not an offensive club. You know, we don't put those numbers up on the board by accident."
No, they looked very purposeful. They attacked early in counts, knocking out Mariners starter Bryce Miller in the fifth inning. If hitting is contagious, consider the Tigers joyfully infectious on this day.
"You need some confidence, you need a nice little boost," Hinch said. "You need to connect at-bats. We talked about it, where you need one and two and three good things to happen in a row, and we did that."
Singles, doubles, and yes, mighty blasts. They hammered the Mariners at their own mashing game, with home runs from Greene, Javy Báez and Gleyber Torres.
Earlier, Greene had grounded out to end the fourth inning to a smattering of boos. For a team that has won so much, the inconsistent offense can frustrate the paying customers. One of the Tigers' strengths is their ability to weather it, and for all the angst about Greene’s frequent strikeouts, he led the team with 36 home runs.
“We really didn’t think anything of (the boos),” said Greene, who was lifted for a pinch hitter earlier in the series. “If we all believe and we’re all on the same page, then it’s pretty hard to stop us.”
Once they got started, others followed, one after another. Báez was the spark again, with an RBI single to tie it 3-3, and later added a two-run home run. The Tigers passed the bat right down the line, with three hits from Zach McKinstry, two from Spencer Torkelson and two from Torres.
Through seven postseason games, Báez has been the Tigers’ most dependable hitter and defender, finally, fully erasing bad memories.
“It’s very rewarding to watch him play with some joy,” Hinch said. “He’s had to endure a lot, whether it’s the frustration at the beginning of his Tiger tenure, to the (hip) injury and missing out on what was an incredible season last year, to this year and the ups and downs, the All-Star nod. Our best team has him doing some pretty impactful things. I know how much it matters, and that makes it even more rewarding.”
Báez always has enjoyed the spotlight and admitted he never minds the boos. He joked they actually make him less nervous than the “Javy!” chants that echoed Wednesday as virtually every Tigers hitter added something.
They rocked the Mariners’ bullpen, which might have been a continuation from the night before when they scored three (seemingly) meaningless runs in the ninth inning of an 8-4 loss. But trouble beckoned early Wednesday as the Mariners dinged Casey Mize for a couple hits and a run. Mize had six strikeouts in three innings but Hinch stuck to the matchup plan bringing lefty Tyler Holton in to start the fourth.
The strategy initially seemed headed for disaster. Holton didn’t record an out as the Mariners jumped on top. Rookie Troy Melton came in and saved the staff pitching three scoreless innings. And the Tigers eventually did what they do using everybody including clutch pinch-hitter Jahmai Jones who delivered an RBI double in the fifth. When you use everyone anyone is liable to rise at any time.
There are days the Tigers simply hand the ball to Skubal and expect him to dominate. That’s the plan for Game 5 although Seattle is 3-0 in games Skubal has started.
And there are days when the Tigers have to maneuver and scratch for everything. They came into the game hitting .191 this postseason but insisted one strong swing begets another. And another.
Greene got the line rolling which provided relief for others.
“First off,(Greene’s) incredible,” Hinch said.“And I know it’s been some tough times,but he never concedes,you know? ...There were many parts of our roster who contributed to the biggest win of the year.So I’m proud of our guys because today’s game was symbolic of how we roll.It’s a lot of different guys doing something positive.”
The Tigers were poised for something positive and they took advantage of the Mariners’ shaky pitching lighting up relievers Gabe Speier and Eduard Bazardo.The eruption was timely and overdue as the Tigers hadn’t won at home since Sept. 6
They lashed seven extra-base hits in a playoff game for the second time in their history.They hadn’t scored nine runs in a postseason game since the 1968 World Series.
It seemed to come out of nowhere, which isn't really true. It came from somewhere the Tigers have been before, in tight elimination games, scrapping for hits. And as long as they have a swing left, they have a chance.