SEATTLE — Seattle Mariners manager Dan Wilson needed to make a decision as Detroit Tigers slugger Kerry Carpenter stepped to the plate in the fifth inning of Game 1 of the ALDS, with a runner on second base and two outs.
Wilson had two choices.
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Option 1: Bring left-handed reliever Gabe Speier out of the bullpen for a favorable matchup against Carpenter. Option 2: Stick with right-handed starter George Kirby for a third matchup against Carpenter.
“It’s a tough one,” Wilson said. “You do the best you can and try to take the information that you have and what you’re seeing. We thought George still had a lot left in the tank.”
Detroit Tigers outfielder Kerry Carpenter (30) hits a two run home run in the fifth inning against the Seattle Mariners during Game 1 of the ALDS in the 2025 MLB playoffs at T-Mobile Park in Seattle on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025.
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His choice backfired.
Carpenter — a left-handed hitter — slugged a two-run home run to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead and helping them to a 3-2 win over the Mariners on Saturday, Oct. 4, at T-Mobile Park. He demolished a middle-up sinker that Kirby elevated above the strike zone, sending the ball 409 feet with a 112.5 mph exit velocity.
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“Before I leave the dugout, I probably know if they’re getting a lefty up or not,” Carpenter said. “Once I’m out there, if George Kirby is on the mound, I’m getting ready to face him, so I was just thinking about my approach against him.”
The analytics supported a switch to Speier.
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But Wilson trusted his gut by sticking with Kirby for the third time against Carpenter.
“Those are tough ones,” said Wilson, following the first postseason game of his two-year managerial career. “I thought George was continuing to throw the ball well, and with Carpenter, you’re trying to keep it down in the zone or trying to get him to chase up in the zone, and he was able to get to one up there and drive it out of the ballpark.”
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The way Wilson handled the Kirby-Speier decision in the fifth inning made the situation easy for Tigers manager A.J. Hinch, a veteran skipper whose in-game decisions have earned him a reputation as one of the best in baseball.
Had Speier entered, Hinch would’ve faced a difficult decision, especially with the Tigers trailing 1-0: Pinch-hit right-handed sub Jahmai Jones and lose Carpenter for the rest of the game, or stick with Carpenter hit and keep him for the later innings.
What would Hinch have done?
He didn’t say.
“I’ve pinch-hit as early as the third or fourth inning this year, so we’ll always be able to counter there,” said Hinch, following the 61st postseason game of his 12-year managerial career. “I have the second move depending on what the other side is going to do. That shows the threat of Jahmai is part of that sequence of events.”
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JEFF SEIDEL REACTS: Game 1 of ALDS couldn’t have worked out better for Tigers
Seattle Mariners pitcher George Kirby (68) after Detroit Tigers outfielder Kerry Carpenter (30) hits a two run home run in the fifth inning during Game 1 of the ALDS in the 2025 MLB playoffs at T-Mobile Park in Seattle on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025.
Carpenter didn’t want to face Speier.
He preferred Kirby.
Here’s why: Carpenter hits .257 with an .812 OPS against right-handed pitchers, significantly better than his .217 with a .638 OPS against left-handed pitchers.
There’s another factor: Opponents hit .310 with a .929 OPS against Kirby the third time through the order, compared to .253 with a .660 OPS the first time and .219 with a .529 OPS the second time.
And perhaps the biggest reason: Carpenter has five hits in 11 plate appearances against Kirby throughout his career — and all five hits are home runs.
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“It was great to get another opportunity off him, the third time through,” Carpenter said. “I feel like the more I face people, the more opportunity I have to have success, so I was hoping to get another opportunity off him.”
Remember how Wilson said Kirby “still had a lot left in the tank” with two outs in the fifth inning — before Carpenter hit the two-run home run?
Kirby didn’t return for the sixth inning.
“No, not in the sixth,” Wilson said, when asked if Kirby was considered for the sixth inning. “I think George gave us the 94 (pitches) and threw a great ballgame and gave us a chance there.”
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The Tigers won the game in the 11th inning, but the turning point occurred in the fifth inning, when Wilson had two choices with a runner on second base and two outs: Kirby vs. Carpenter or Speier vs. Carpenter/Jones.
He chose Kirby vs. Carpenter.
It ultimately led to the Tigers’ 3-2 win in Game 1 of the ALDS.
“One of our strengths is bouncing back, and we have to do that,” Wilson said. “Our guys are good at that, and that’s what they do. I think we’ll be ready.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him@EvanPetzold.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Kerry Carpenter epic ALDS HR for Tigers got boost from Mariners flub