DETROIT — Akil Baddoo‘s pinch-hit double in the 10th inning gave the Detroit Tigers a 3-2 come-from-behind win over the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday night.
“This is a really great win,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “It is fun to see the adrenaline in our clubhouse.”
The teams were playing for the fifth time in eight days. The Tigers won two of three in Seattle and beat the Mariners 15-1 on Tuesday night.
“This one hurts,” said Mariners manager Scott Servais. “We know the Tigers are playing well after what they’ve done to us, but we had control of the game and couldn’t finish it off.”
Detroit trailed 2-0 with two out in the bottom of the eighth, but Matt Vierling doubled off Yimi Garcia and Kerry Carpenter hit his third homer in two games to tie the score. Carpenter, who came off the injured list before Tuesday’s game, had struck out in his first three at-bats.
“They had done a really good job against me, but I had faced Garcia before,” Carpenter said. “I got a fastball that I knew I could drive.”
Tyler Holton (5-1) held Seattle scoreless in the top of the 10th and Collin Snider (2-2) walked Justyn-Henry Malloy to start the bottom of the inning. Zach McKinstry struck out trying to bunt, but Baddoo hit for Jake Rogers and hit a deep fly ball over the head of Victor Robles to win the game.
“Skip told me to be ready to go,” said Baddoo, who has split the season between the majors and Triple-A. “It is great to know these guys trust me to come through in a situation like that.”
Mariners starter Bryan Woo allowed four singles and didn’t walk a batter in seven scoreless innings. He has pitched twice against the Tigers in seven days, not getting a decision either time despite allowing three runs in 13 2/3 innings.
Seattle closer Andrés Muñoz pitched a perfect ninth to set a franchise record with 12 straight hitless outings.
With only two healthy starting pitchers, the Tigers have been forced to use their bullpen to cover nine innings multiple times a week. Beau Brieske opened against the Mariners before Bryan Sammons took over in the second.
Detroit only got one runner into scoring position against Woo, and he struck out Carpenter with runners on first and second to end the third.
The Mariners took a 1-0 lead off Sammons in the fifth when Dylan Moore scored on Jorge Polanco’s base hit.
Robles struck out to start the eighth, but reached first when Will Vest’s pitch eluded Rogers. Robles took second on a groundout before Randy Arozerana hit a hard grounder back to the mound.
Vest threw to third, but Robles slid past the tag. Cal Raleigh walked, loading the bases for Julio Rodríguez.
Rodríguez aggravated his left ankle ducking away from an inside pitch, but stayed in the game after attention from the training staff. He blooped an RBI single to left before being replaced by a pinch runner.
Shelby Miller replaced Vest and got out of the inning with the score still 2-0.
“That was a chance to break open the game and we couldn’t add anything else,” Servais said. “That’s a huge opportunity, especially on the road.”
Servais said Rodríguez didn’t do any additional damage to the ankle he sprained in July.
“He might need a day off tomorrow, and we’ll see how it goes from there,” he said.
UP NEXT
The teams finish their three-game series on Thursday afternoon, with Seattle RHP Bryce Miller (9-7, 3.46 ERA) facing another Tigers bullpen game.