Tigers' pitching chaos ends with unlikely hero as Detroit steals Game 1 from Mariners

The Tigers and Mariners played through nine of the tightest innings possible in Game 1 of the ALDS, an opener that had fans' on both sides heart rates through the roof for most of the game.

Detroit put rookie Troy Melton on the mound to set Tarik Skubal up for Game 2; Melton was looking for some redemption after his eighth-inning appearance in Game 2 of the Wild Card, when a solo homer gave way to a five-run inning that put Detroit on the ropes going into Game 3.

Melton had a short leash but handled his four innings well apart from a solo homer from Julio Rodríguez. AJ Hinch did what he does best for the rest of the game. He played matchups and trusted his bullpen (even if that trust seemed questionable).

Things were tied at two through nine, with the Rodríguez homer, a towering two-run Kerry Carpenter bomb, then a Rodríguez RBI single. The Tigers hadn't gotten a hit down since the fifth, when Riley Greene followed Carpenter's homer with a single.

After Melton came Brant Hurter, Rafael Montero, Tyler Holton, Tommy Kahnle, Kyle Finnegan, and Will Vest as Hinch basically turned his bullpen over and emptied them all out onto the field. Montero was the only one to not record an out; he was yanked after giving up a walk and two hits, including the Rodríguez RBI single.

The score was still even coming out of the 10th, Vest's second inning of the night. But then the Tigers got a gift from Mariners manager Dan Wilson: he took closer Andres Muñoz out and replaced him with Carlos Vargas, who had an 8.00+ ERA in his last seven appearances of the regular season.

Spencer Torkelson took a leadoff walk, and a wild pitch moved him into scoring position. The next two outs came via strikeout, and then up came Zach McKinstry to play the hero and have every Tigers fan at home both jumping off the couch and breathing a sigh of relief.

Tigers take ALDS Game 1 from Mariners after extra-innings clutch hit, massive bullpen effort

Vest didn't pitch past two innings all season, so Hinch had to bring in his eighth pitcher of the night to try to saw through the top of the Mariners' order — including Rodríguez and Cal Raleigh. He went with Keider Montero, who had never recorded a save and had never come in for the ninth in his young career.

Montero got Randy Arozarena and Raleigh on a quick groundout and pop out respectively. Rodríguez continued to be the Mariners' only really productive bat with another single, but the game ended on a Josh Naylor groundout.

Advantage, Tigers.

The Mariners mostly met Detroit beat for beat in terms of pitching, and called in seven total pitchers including starter George Kirby.

Now, Detroit will go into Game 2 with the best of the best on the mound in Skubal, and they have even more of an ego boost after their Wild Card win and a tight, nail-biting win over Seattle in this first game.