Tigers, Tarik Skubal just woke up division rival fans after Jorge Polanco lifts Mariners

While they don't get the joy of watching their own team play in October, Minnesota Twins fans were watching gleefully as Seattle Mariners shortstop Jorge Polanco hit a pair of solo homers off of Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal in Game 2 of the ALDS on Sunday.

Polanco, playing in his first season with the Mariners, had spent the entirety of his Major League career up until this year with the Twins. He was traded to Seattle in January 2024 for a haul that included reliever Justin Topa, starter Anthony DeSclafani and minor league prospects Gabriel Gonzalez and Darren Bowen.

After re-signing with the Mariners in free agency, Polanco became a playoff hero for his new team by helping Seattle earn its first home playoff win in 24 years with a 3-2 defeat of the Tigers that evened the series at one game apiece.

Tigers' division rival fans celebrate Jorge Polanco's ALDS heroics vs Tarik Skubal

On Sunday, Polanco lifted the Mariners to a win over his former team's division rivals by doing something that only three other Mariners hitters have ever done in a playoff game. With his two home runs off of Skubal, he joined Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez and Jay Buhner as the only other players to hit multiple home runs in a postseason game for Seattle.

Polanco also became just the fourth player – and first since 2021 – to homer twice in the same game against Skubal, who’s the frontrunner to win his second consecutive AL Cy Young Award this year.

Polanco broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth inning, slider from Skubal 392 feet into the bullpen in T-Mobile Park's left-center field. Then, in his next at-bat, he drove one over the fence to extend the Mariners' lead to 2-0.

The Tigers staged a late rally in the eighth inning, when Spencer Torkelson hit a line drive that scored a pair of runners to tie the score at 2-2. However, the effort was wasted by the bullpen when Kyle Finnegan gave up an RBI double to Julio Rodríguez that gave the Mariners a 3-2 win and even the best-of-five series at one game apiece.

The series now shifts to Detroit for the next two games, with Game 3 slated for Tuesday at Comerica Park. Hopefully, Jack Flaherty will fare better against Polanco than Skubal did.

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