Tigers not capitalizing on Mariners' biggest mistake of ALDS will haunt them

Other than helping the Mariners move on to the ALCS, we would guess that Seattle starter George Kirby wanted nothing more than to get Kerry Carpenter to go down swinging.

Carpenter went into Game 1 of the ALDS with four career home runs off of Kirby, but it didn't become a narrative until that game, when Carpenter took him deep to score two and put the Tigers on top. That made five career hits for Carpenter against Kirby, all of them home runs.

Their teams cued up at least a couple more meetings between them for Game 5, with Kirby making his second appearance of the series. And sure enough, Carpenter couldn't be beaten. He opened the game with a leadoff single (his first ever non-homer hit against Kirby), then collected another in the top of the third.

In the top of the sixth, Kirby gave up a leadoff double to Javy Báez, the Tigers' only extra-base hit of the game so far, and Dan Wilson could either leave Kirby in to try to finally sit down his arch-nemesis, or he could put in a lefty reliever to try to force AJ Hinch to pull Carpenter.

Wilson didn't believe in his starter, but Hinch believed in his hitter. He kept him in to face lefty Gabe Speier despite Carpenter's bad numbers against lefties, and Carpenter confirmed he's inevitable, at least when it comes to the Mariners. He belted a two-run homer to put the Tigers on top.

Kerry Carpenter's go-ahead two-run homer in ALDS Game 5 goes to waste after a 15th-inning walk-off for the Mariners

That should've been it for the Tigers. The Mariners pulled their starter, who was cruising after 66 pitches, because their manager was scared of one matchup. Carpenter was the only hitter who gave the Mariners issues on a consistent basis, and Wilson opted to burn his bullpen instead.

It would eventually turn out to be the only moment when the Tigers' offense gave fans real reasons to hope. Detroit still only had a one-run lead, which was quickly eliminated by a pinch-hit Leo Rivas RBI single off of Tyler Holton (which was credited to Kyle Finnegan, who was pulled after putting two men on). The Mariners walked it off in the 15th inning.

Carpenter also walked twice, making his strikeout swinging against Luis Castillo in the 15th the only time the Mariners could neutralize him. But they did it when it mattered.

The rest of the Tigers' offense was ice-cold, even if there were a few very questionable calls from home plate umpire Alan Porter that ended a few at-bats. They just couldn't capitalize on the momentum Carpenter or Tarik Skubal's historic outing gave them, and they went home because of it.