Browsing: Polanco

You need your stars to show up in the clutch come October. Julio Rodríguez answered the call on Sunday night.

The star outfielder’s RBI double in the bottom of the eighth proved to be the winning moment in the Seattle Mariners’ 3-2 win over the Detroit Tigers in Game 2 of the ALDS, evening the series.

The hit was timely—the Tigers had leveled the score in the top of the frame on Spencer Torkelson’s two-run double after Seattle’s pitchers had limited the Mariners to just two hits through seven innings.

That set the stage for Rodríguez to be the hero and he delivered, following Cal Raleigh’s double with one of his own, thrilling MLB fans and pundits in the process:

The Mariners came into Sunday in borderline dire straits, down a game in the series and facing defending Cy Young-winner Tarik Skubal. And while Skubal was largely excellent through seven innings (two runs, five hits, a walk, nine strikeouts), second baseman Jorge Polanco took him deep twice.

It’s hard enough to get a homer off Skubal, but two in one game? That’s incredibly rare:

Polanco also joined some pretty rarefied air in Mariners’ history:

Seattle’s pitchers were also pretty fantastic throughout, holding the Tigers to two runs and just three hits, led by starter Luis Castillo (4.2 innings, one hit, four walks, three strikeouts). Andrés Muñoz closed the door in the ninth, and we’ve got ourselves a tied series heading back to Detroit thanks to Rodríguez.

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That was the home playoff game Seattle was waiting for.

One day after their series-opening disappointment in extra innings, the Mariners faced a tall task: Beat the Tigers with Cy Young favorite Tarik Skubal on the mound, or face an 0-2 ALDS hole as the series moved to Detroit. They chose the former in a 3-2 victory in Game 2, their first home playoff win in 24 years.

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Skubal looked as dominant as ever — except when he faced Mariners second baseman Jorge Polanco. The MLB veteran took the ace deep twice to give his team the lead.

Those homers would have been enough, had the Tigers not rallied in the eighth inning when a pair of mistakes — a walk and a Josh Naylor error — put two runners on base, and then both scored on a Spencer Torkelson double. That turn of events left T-Mobile Park quiet, at least until the bottom of the inning.

Franchise cornerstones Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodríguez hit back-to-back doubles to put the Mariners back ahead in a classic postseason moment for the franchise.

That was the offensive side. On the mound, the Mariners sent out Luis Castillo, who took a no-hitter into the fifth inning but got pulled after his first base hit allowed. Andrés Muñoz closed out the ninth after recording six outs in Game 1. All told, the Seattle pitching staff allowed one earned run while striking out 10 and allowing three hits.

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The series now heads to Detroit, where Logan Gilbert and Jack Flaherty are on track to face off in Game 3 beginning at 4:08 p.m. ET Tuesday.

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