The Seattle Mariners, the team where the Cuban plays Randy Arozarenabeat the Detroit Tigers in a dramatic fifth game to advance in the playoffs of the MLB.
The game was decided in 15 innings, when the winners broke the two-run tie reflected on the scoreboard from the seventh inning to leave the cats on the field.
In this way, Seattle advanced for the first time in 24 years to the American League Championship Series, where they will meet the Toronto Blue Jays of also Cuban Yariel Rodrígueza team that two days earlier had eliminated the iconic New York Yankees.
The @Mariners are now just four wins away from their first World Series appearance! pic.twitter.com/Ve7Gj1Saza
—MLB (@MLB) October 11, 2025
The match
Playing at home, the Mariners opened the scoreboard ahead of star Tarik Skubal, scoring a run by sacrifice fly ball in the second inning.
However, that was all they could do to Skubal who struck out 13 in six innings – seven of them in a row, to establish a postseason record—, he did not grant walks and barely tolerated two hits.
Furthermore, the Tigers revealed themselves in the sixth inning, when they scored two runs driven by Kerry Carpenter’s home run with Puerto Rican Javier Báez on second base. With this they took control and put Seattle against the wall.
The Mariners did not wait long to equalize, and at the end of the seventh inning, Venezuelan Leo Rivas tied the score with a hit off reliever Kyle Finnegan. From that moment on, both teams engaged in a tough struggle in which they had no shortage of opportunities to win, but in which the pitchers managed to always hit zero until the 15th inning.
The outcome
At the end of that inning, JP Crawford scored a single with no outs, and reached second after the Cuban Arozarena – who had gone scoreless throughout the game – received a pitch from the reliever and ultimately lost
After a hit to the outfield slugger
JORGE POLANCO WINS IT IN THE 15TH INNING!
THE @MARINERS ARE HEADING TO THE ALCS!!! pic.twitter.com/IEb6DLrHaY
—MLB (@MLB) October 11, 2025
The victory went to the account of Dominican Luis Castillo, who did not allow runs or hits to the Tigers in an inning and a third of performance on the mound.
After their epic victory, the Mariners will have only one day of rest to face the Blue Jays, at the home of the Canadian franchise. Those from Toronto, who dispatched the Yankees in four games, seem a priori favorites, after winning four of the six games between them in the regular season. But the MLB playoffs are a clean slate.
As for the National League, this Saturday it will define its second finalist, when the Chicago Cubs face the Milwaukee Brewers, at the latter’s home. The winner will secure a spot in the Championship Series against the powerful Los Angeles Dodgers, current MLB champions and winners of the division series over the Philadelphia Phillies.
