SEATTLE -- Zach McKinstry singled home the tiebreaking run with two outs in the 11th inning and the Detroit Tigers outlasted the Seattle Mariners for a 3-2 victory in Game 1 of their AL Division Series on Saturday.
Kerry Carpenter hit a two-run homer in the fifth for the resurgent Tigers, who squandered a huge lead in the AL Central and nearly collapsed entirely down the stretch before squeezing into the playoffs.
After winning their Wild Card Series at division champion Cleveland in a deciding Game 3, they can take a commanding 2-0 lead in this best-of-five matchup against AL West champion Seattle with dominant ace Tarik Skubal on the mound Sunday.
In the first extra-inning game of this postseason, McKinstry pounced on the first pitch he saw from reliever Carlos Vargas, a 99.6 mph sinker, and grounded it up the middle to score Spencer Torkelson from second base.
Torkelson, who walked leading off the 11th, advanced to second on a wild pitch by Vargas earlier in the inning.
