Tigers keep season alive, force ALDS Game 5 against Mariners

DETROIT — Riley Greene and Javier Báez hit a four-run sixth-inning home run and the Detroit Tigers kept their season alive with a 9-3 win over the Seattle Mariners in Game 4 of the American League Division Series.

The Tigers forced a fifth game by winning at Comerica Park for the first time in over a month. They went 0-8 after Tarik Skubal’s 6-0 win over the Chicago White Sox on September 6, including Seattle’s 8-4 win on Tuesday.

The series decider will take place Friday in Seattle, with Skubal facing George Kirby.

After Detroit tied the game with three runs in the fifth, Greene gave the Tigers a 4-3 advantage with a leadoff homer off Gabe Speier in the sixth.

Spencer Torkelson followed with a double and scored Detroit’s fifth run on Zach McKinstry’s single before Báez made it 7-3 with his sixth home run of the postseason.

Gleyber Torres became the third Tigers All-Star to homer when he led off the seventh with a shot to right before Báez’s eighth-inning groundout brought in Detroit’s ninth run.

Troy Melton, starter in Detroit’s opener, earned the win with three scoreless innings of relief.

The first 4½ innings looked like another Tigers disaster.

Casey Mize allowed one run while striking out six batters in the first three innings, but he needed 54 pitches to do it. That may have played a role in AJ Hinch’s decision to send left-hander Tyler Holton to the mound for the fourth inning.

The decision didn’t work – Holton faced three batters and came away with the bases loaded and no one out. Hinch called on setup man Kyle Finnegan, who allowed Victor Robles to ground into a double play before JP Crawford popped out.

The Mariners, however, got to Finnegan in the fifth. Randy Arozarena led off with a single, took second on a wild pitch and scored on Cal Raleigh’s single – his seventh hit of the series. This made the score 3-0, increasing boos from an angry home crowd.

Dillon Dingler’s RBI double put the Tigers up with one out in the fifth – the first run Detroit had scored against Mariners starter Bryce Miller in 23⅓ innings.

Speier came in, but Jahmai Jones lined his first pitch down the left field line for a double to make it 3-2 before Báez tied the game with a base hit.