J-Rod Leads Mariners to First Playoff Win Since 2001

SEATTLE — The venue was packed, echoing with the familiar cadence of “Ju-lio!” during the eighth inning on Sunday. It felt more intense, resonant, and pressing, almost mirroring the longing felt throughout a quarter-century without a postseason victory at home. Julio Rodriguez, the Seattle Mariners’ celebrated center fielder and a top performer in baseball for the last several months, answered the call. He slammed a line drive that enabled Cal Raleigh to score the go-ahead run, then pulled into second base, pumped his fist into the cool October atmosphere, celebrated for the 47,371 spectators in T-Mobile Park, and absorbed their enthusiasm.

“I took a quick look around,” Rodriguez shared after contributing to a tense, 3-2 triumph against the Detroit Tigers. “Seeing everyone’s excitement was truly inspiring. It was a remarkable experience.”

Facing Detroit’s star pitcher, Tarik Skubal, and with the risk of heading to Detroit trailing 2-0 in the best-of-five American League Division Series, the Mariners leaned on a standout pitching display and two home runs from Jorge Polanco to secure a two-run advantage leading into the eighth inning. Following Josh Naylor’s mistake, which allowed Spencer Torkelson to tie the game with a double, the Mariners, one of baseball’s hottest teams, answered decisively. Raleigh hit a double off Kyle Finnegan, and Rodriguez followed suit. Andres Munoz, who had pitched two innings the night before, closed out the game in the ninth.

For the first occasion since Oct. 15, 2001, the fans in Seattle could witness a playoff victory in person.

“It means a lot to us to give our fans what they’ve earned,” Munoz stated. “Having been here for a while, I know they deserve this.”

Skubal is familiar with the Mariners’ journey. Before establishing himself as a premier pitcher in the AL, Skubal played at Seattle University, the sole Division-I school to offer him a scholarship. Skubal welcomed the entire Seattle University baseball team to watch him pitch, aiming to inspire young athletes to follow his path from a ninth-round pick to a Cy Young contender.

The Tigers were building on a hard-fought effort where they employed seven pitchers across 11 innings to narrowly win Game 1. Skubal, coming off a 14-strikeout performance in the wild-card round, aimed to put his Tigers in a strong position. However, Polanco disrupted those plans. In the fourth inning, Skubal’s 2-0 slider drifted over the plate, and Polanco drove it into the Mariners’ bullpen in left-center field, marking the first home run Skubal had given up on that pitch since May 20. In the sixth, Skubal took a 1-2 lead in the count, but Polanco battled back to a full count, then crushed a 99 mph sinker for a 369-foot home run.

“That was a solid at-bat,” Skubal commented. “I gave up runs because of two well-executed swings on pitches. I felt my technique was excellent, and my execution was nearly perfect. But that’s baseball.”

Polanco experienced a challenging season in 2024, registering a .651 OPS after being acquired by the Mariners from the Minnesota Twins. He played through much of the year with an injury, eventually undergoing surgery on his left knee after the season. In February, the Mariners brought him back on a $7 million deal for 2025, and he developed into one of their most consistent performers down the stretch.

From July to September, Polanco posted a .282/.348/.551 slash line, ranking 11th in OPS in the major leagues. When the Mariners needed a victory, he became the first player in four years – since Paul Goldschmidt on Aug. 25, 2021 – to hit two home runs in a single game against Skubal.

“He’s an exceptional baseball player,” Rodriguez remarked. “He’s relentless. He’s had impressive at-bats all year, coming up clutch in numerous situations. And hitting two home runs today against the best pitcher in the game is incredible. Words can’t express his significance to the team.”

Luis Castillo, known for thriving off the energy of the Seattle crowd, was assigned to Game 2 and required 51 pitches to record the first six outs. A short start appeared likely, particularly after the Mariners’ bullpen was heavily used the previous night. However, Castillo completed the third and fourth innings with just 18 pitches. In the fifth, Mariners manager Dan Wilson faced a situation similar to the night before: the fifth inning, runners on base, left-handed hitter Kerry Carpenter at the plate, and left-handed reliever Gabe Speier warming up in the bullpen.

“It felt like déjà vu,” Wilson said.

Just a day before, Wilson had entrusted George Kirby to face Carpenter a third time, resulting in a two-run homer. This time, he turned to Speier, who struck out Carpenter to end the fifth and then cruised through the heart of the Mariners’ lineup in the sixth. Eduard Bazardo followed by stranding a runner in the seventh. Matt Brash seemed set to do the same in the top of the eighth, but Riley Greene’s grounder, which could have been an inning-ending double play, deflected off Naylor’s glove at first base. Five pitches later, Torkelson silenced the city with a game-tying double down the right-field line.

“We just needed to keep moving forward,” Raleigh recalled. “In the playoffs, you have to have a short memory.”

Raleigh, the team’s catcher who had a historic 60-homer season, responded by capitalizing on a splitter over the plate, driving it toward the right-field wall. Rodriguez, arguably the game’s best player since the All-Star break, mirrored the effort by hitting another splitter in almost the exact location down the left-field line, reigniting Seattle’s spirit.

“It was amazing,” Rodriguez said. “These are the moments I dreamed of as a kid.”

Mariners fans endured a 21-year wait after their 116-win season in 2001 to see their baseball team return to the playoffs. They won consecutive wild-card games in Toronto in 2022, but suffered two tough ALDS losses in Houston, came back home, played 18 innings, and lost 1-0, ending a promising season. Several subsequent years were marked by late-season collapses that kept them out of the playoffs, increasing the pressure on a 2025 team widely regarded as the most talented of its era. Raleigh described getting that first home playoff win as “a significant weight lifted off our shoulders.”

The Mariners are aiming for several more victories.