Mariners use catcher to pitch 10th inning, still beat Tigers in Game 1 of doubleheader

The Seattle Mariners all but conceded Game 1 of Tuesday’s doubleheader at T-Mobile Park, but the Detroit Tigers were unwilling to accept the gift.

The Mariners inserted a position player to pitch the 10th inning of a tie game, but the Tigers scored only one run while closer Gregory Soto allowed two in the bottom of the inning. The Mariners won the game 7-6.

The Tigers (66-94) have won 11 of their last 14 games and had been playing well, but Tuesday’s loss was a frustrating one. They finish the season with two more against the Mariners (88-72), who have already clinched a playoff spot and are playing like it.

The most vivid example came in the 10th inning of a 5-5 game when the Mariners manager Scott Servais opted to use catcher Luis Torrens as his pitcher rather than deplete arms that need to be rested for the playoffs.

Torrens did fine, allowing only one infield hit, but the Tigers scored a run on Riley Greene’s sacrifice fly. The Mariners quickly trumped that with two singles and then a sac fly to win the game.

Torrens becomes the first position player in Mariners history to record a win, according to the team.

Tigers starter Eduardo Rodriguez allowed three runs in six innings. He finishes the 2022 season with a 4.05 ERA in 17 starts over 91 innings. He missed three months due to personal reasons.

Miguel Cabrera had a walk and a single, the 3,088th hit of his career. He’s one hit behind Mariners legend Ichiro for 23rd on MLB’s all-time list. He’s not slated to play the rest of the series unless he enters as a pinch-hitter.

The Tigers got home runs from Victor Reyes and Spencer Torkelson.

Reyes has just three homers all season long, but two of them have come in October.

Torkelson snapped a 1-for-31 skid with his home run, his seventh of the season in 395 plate appearances.

Box score

Up next

The second game of Tuesday’s doubleheader will start about 30 minutes after the first at roughly 10:10 p.m. Eastern time. Right-handed reliever Will Vest (3-3, 3.90 ERA) will be the Tigers’ opener, with Elvin Rodriguez (0-3, 10.04) expected to get at least a couple of innings in relief.

©2022 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit mlive.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.