Tigers stun Mariners in 10th inning, spoiling Bryan Woo’s gem

DETROIT – As ugly, as embarrassing, as futile as the Mariners were in a 14-run loss to the Tigers on Tuesday, their loss Wednesday was worse.

“This one hurts,” manager Scott Servais said after the Mariners blew a two-run lead with two outs in the eighth inning in an eventual 3-2 loss.

One strike away from getting out of the eighth inning, reliever Yimi Garcia left a 2-2 fastball over the heart of the plate – and Detroit’s Kerry Carpenter didn’t miss it.

Carpenter launched a two-run homer – his third of the series – to tie the score, and Akil Baddoo delivered the final blow in the 10th inning with a pinch-hit double off Collin Snider as the Detroit Tigers continued to torment the Mariners with a 3-2 walkoff win Wednesday at Comerica Park.

The Mariners (63-58) have lost the first two games of this nine-game road trip – and four of five to the Tigers (58-63) over the past week – to fall 21/2 games back of the Astros in the AL West.

The Mariners made such great progress in a rousing sweep of the New York Mets over the weekend. That momentum came to a screeching halt here in the Motor City during a brutal 24-hour stretch.

A day after Mariners pitching was torched for 15 runs and 20 hits, Bryan Woo shut down the Tigers over seven nearly flawless innings in the best start of his young career.

Going into the eighth inning Wednesday, the Mariners had their pitching lined up just how they wanted. They had Garcia, a reliable veteran, rested and ready, and they had one of the game’s best closers, Andres Muñoz, for the ninth. It should have worked, and it nearly did.

“You’re in control of the game and you feel good about where we were at there,” Servais said.

Garcia, acquired from Toronto at the trade deadline to solidify the eighth-inning role, had his first blown save with the Mariners – and his first since May 26.

In three previous matchups, Carpenter was 0 for 3 with three strikeouts against Garcia, pitching then for the Blue Jays.

But Garcia is a Mariner now, and he missed badly with his 96-mph fastball on the 2-2 pitch, leaving it right over the middle of the plate.

Carpenter, a lefty, belted it 385 feet out to right field.

“Yimi’s been great since we acquired him,” Servais said. “He made a couple mistakes, and certainly a big one there to Carpenter. He jumped on it and flipped the game.”

Carpenter had homered twice off George Kirby in the Tigers’ 15-1 beatdown of the Mariners on Tuesday, and he has six homers in seven career games against the Mariners.

In another bullpen game for the Tigers – who used six relievers in all – the Mariners built a 1-0 going into the eighth, and they had chance to put the game out of reach.

Julio Rodriguez, in his third game back from a high ankle sprain, tweaked the ankle while up to bat with one out and the bases loaded. He remained in the game, and singled to drive in Victor Robles to push the lead to 2-0.

Rodriguez was pulled for a pinch runner after that, and the Tigers made a pitching change to bring in right-hander Shelby Miller to face Mariners lefty Luke Raley.

Miller struck out Raley swinging through a 2-2 splitter.

Mitch Haniger then flew out to right field to end the inning, stranding the bases loaded.

“We had a chance to break it open there in the eighth and couldn’t add on,” Servais said. “And on the road, those are huge opportunities that we missed there.”

Muñoz needed just 10 pitches to retire the Tigers in order in the bottom of the ninth inning to keep the score tied at 2-2. Muñoz has not allowed a hit in 12 straight appearances.

In the 10th, the Mariners failed to advance their automatic runner past second base. Tigers lefty Tyler Holton struck out Jorge Polanco and Randy Arozarena, and Cal Raleigh flew out to right field.

Servais said he was going to send Muñoz back out to pitch the bottom of the 10th only if the Mariners had taken the lead in the top half. In a tie game on the road, even if Muñoz would have held the Tigers scoreless in the 10th, Servais would have had to turn to another reliever at some point in the bottom half to finish the game. (If the score is tied in a game at home, he has explained, he would have almost certainly used Muñoz for a second inning.)

Woo was masterful in pitching into the seventh inning for his third straight start.

He remained in the game despite being hit in the left arm by a 105-mph line drive off the bat of Parker Meadows in the fifth inning – a scary moment for any pitcher but one that was especially harrowing for Woo, he said, because he was hit in the face by a comebacker two years ago while making a rehab start in his return from Tommy John surgery.

“It’s never fun to see a ball come back like that,” he said.

Woo allowed just four hits with no walks and six strikeouts.

“Heck of a job by Bryan Woo tonight,” Servais said. “That’s as good as he can throw the ball. He’s been on a great roll.”