Tigers' All-Stars come through in 9-3 win over Mariners and force a Game 5 in ALDS

DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Tigers' All-Stars stepped up when they were needed the most.

Facing elimination and trailing the Seattle Mariners 3-0 in Game 4 of the American League Division Series on Wednesday, the Tigers' slumbering bats finally regained their thump and forced a winner-take-all Game 5 on Friday in Seattle.

Detroit scored all of its runs after the fourth inning in the 9-3 victory over the Mariners. The Tigers’ nine runs were their most in a postseason game since scoring 13 in Game 6 of the 1968 World Series.

Contributions to the victory came from up and down the lineup. But, it was All-Stars Riley Greene, Javier Báez, Gleyber Torres and Zach McKinstry who fueled the outburst.

Greene, who had gone hitless in his previous 11 at-bats, launched a rocket of relief over the right-center field fence to give the Tigers a 4-3 lead in the sixth.

Greene grounded out his first two times up and heard some boos after those at-bats before his blast off a hanging Gabe Speier slider. The 454-foot homer was the second-longest home run of Greene’s career, regular season and postseason, and longest at Comerica Park since a 453-foot shot by Gleyber Torres on Aug. 29, 2023.

“I haven’t hit a ball like that in a while,” Greene said of his first career postseason homer. “It feels pretty good, and I want to do it more often.”

Greene led the Tigers with 36 home runs, but slumped down the stretch as Detroit squandered a huge lead in the AL Central and finishing a game behind Cleveland.

“He is a tough kid. He’s had to endure a lot,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “I play him every day. He’s in the middle of the order. He gets managed against, and he comes up big right when you need it. So that was a big swing.”

Báez, who wasn't on Detroit's postseason roster last season due to injury, drove in four runs. His two-run shot capped the four-run sixth inning that gave the Tigers a 7-3 lead. Baez had just one RBI and one extra-base hit in this postseason before Wednesday.

“I think when everything clicks together, the pitching and the hitting and everything we do as a team, you know, we can be really dangerous,” Báez said.

Torres, who had scored just one run in the postseason despite batting first or second in the order, contributed a solo homer and reached base three times.

McKinstry had gone 1 for 19 in the postseason before his three-hit outing Wednesday, including an RBI single.

“It wasn’t just the big swings,” Hinch said. “I love the big swings. But there’s also some singles in there.”

Putting the ball in play was something the Tigers struggled to do against the Guardians in the Wild Card Series and again in this series. Their offense had struck out more times than any other playoff team. That changed Wednesday, as they struck out just three times.

“Hitting's contagious and not hitting is also kind of contagious, too,” said first baseman Spencer Torkelson, who had two hits and scored a run.

Now, the Tigers must return to Seattle. But, they'll have their ace, Tarik Skubal, on the mound. They'll look to take some offensive momentum along the way.

“We have to figure out a way to score earlier,” Torres said. “I know (Skubal) is awesome, but we have to help him.”

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

Detroit Tigers' Gleyber Torres celebrates after hitting a solo home run during the seventh inning in Game 4 of baseball's American League Division Series against the Seattle Mariners Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Detroit Tigers' Zach McKinstry follows through on an RBI single during the sixth inning in Game 4 of baseball's American League Division Series against the Seattle Mariners Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Detroit Tigers' Riley Greene rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run during the sixth inning in Game 4 of baseball's American League Division Series against the Seattle Mariners Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Detroit Tigers' Javier Báez watches his two-run home run during the sixth inning in Game 4 of baseball's American League Division Series against the Seattle Mariners Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. (AP) — Vice President JD Vance joined the grieving family of a Kentucky man who was the seventh U.S. service member to die in combat during the Iran war as his remains were brought back to the U.S. Monday evening.

The dignified transfer, a solemn event that honors U.S. service members killed in action, took place at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for Army Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, 26, of Glendale, Kentucky. He died Sunday after being wounded during a March 1 attack on the Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, a Pentagon statement said.

Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth saluted alongside high ranking military officials as the transfer case draped with the American flag was carried from the military aircraft and into an awaiting vehicle.

Mike Bell, retired pastor of Glendale Christian Church, said he’d known Pennington since he was a toddler and got a call from Pennington's father when the soldier was hurt.

“I talked to Tim Saturday morning, and he was doing a little better, and they were talking about maybe moving him to Germany,” Bell said. Tim Pennington called again that evening, Bell said, to ask for prayers as his son's condition was worsening, and then later told him the soldier had succumbed to his injuries.

“He was just a quiet person,” said Bell, noting that Pennington attended the church’s after-school program. “I mean, he never attracted attention because he was just steady doing what he needed to do to do it.”

Pennington was assigned to the 1st Space Battalion, 1st Space Brigade of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command based at Fort Carson, Colorado.

The unit’s mission focused on “missile warning, GPS, and long-haul satellite communications,” according to their website.

“This just breaks my heart,” Keith Taul, judge-executive of Hardin County, where Pennington was from, said in a statement emailed to The Associated Press. “I have known the family for at least 30 years. I can’t imagine the pain and suffering they are experiencing.”

Glendale is an unincorporated town of about 300 residents south of the Hardin County seat of Elizabethtown.

In a statement posted on social media, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear called Pennington “a hero who sacrificed everything serving our country.”

The other six service members killed since the conflict began on Feb. 28 were Army reservists killed in Kuwait when an Iranian drone struck an operations center at a civilian port.

President Donald Trump on Saturday joined grieving families at Dover Air Force Base at the dignified transfer for those six U.S. soldiers.

The dignified transfer is considered one of the most somber duties of any commander in chief. During his first term, Trump said bearing witness to the transfer was “the toughest thing I have to do” as president.

Pennington graduated in 2017 from Central Hardin High School, where he was enrolled in the automotive technology pathway, district spokesman John Wright told the AP. Former automotive tech instructor Tom Pitt, who taught Pennington in 2017 at Hardin County Early College and Career Center, called him “an American hero.”

“A lot of times as a teacher, you have students who are smart, you have students who are charismatic, who are likable, dare I say, enchanting,” said Pitt, who called Pennington Nate. “Rarely do you have students who are all of those. And Ben Pennington was all of those. He was basically the quintessential all-American.”

Photos on his and family members' Facebook pages show that Pennington achieved the rank of Eagle Scout in August 2017. His Eagle project was the demolition of some old baseball dugouts in Glendale, said Darin Life, former committee chairman for Troop 221.

“If you look up Eagle Scout, his picture’s probably there,” said Life, who knew Pennington throughout his scouting career. “He loved his country. I would have expected nothing less of him than to lose his life protecting his country.”

A month after his Eagle ceremony, Pennington posted a photo of himself taking the oath of enlistment. He entered the service as a unit supply specialist and was assigned to the Space and Missile Command on June 10, 2025, the Army said in a release.

Among his awards and decorations were the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the Army Service Ribbon.

“The U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command is deeply saddened by the loss of Sgt. Pennington,” said Lt. Gen. Sean A. Gainey, USASMDC commanding general. “He gave the ultimate sacrifice for the country he loved.”

Col. Michael F. Dyer, 1st Space Brigade commander, described Pennington as “a dedicated and experienced noncommissioned officer who led with strength, professionalism and sense of duty.”

Pennington will be posthumously promoted to staff sergeant, the Pentagon said.

Associated Press reporters Konstantin Toropin in Washington, Hallie Golden in Seattle and Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee, contributed to this report.

A U.S. Army carry team places the transfer case with the remains of U.S. Army Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, 26, of Glendale, Ky., the seventh U.S. service member to die in combat during the Iran war, in the the transfer vehicle during a dignified transfer Monday, March 9, 2026, at Dover Air Force Base, Del. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine and other military leaders pray before a dignified transfer for U.S. Army Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, 26, of Glendale, Ky., the seventh U.S. service member to die in combat during the Iran war, Monday, March 9, 2026, at Dover Air Force Base, Del. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, and other military leaders, salute during a dignified transfer for Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, 26, of Glendale, Ky., Monday March 9, 2026, at Dover Air Force Base, Del. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth salutes as an U.S. Army carry team moves the transfer case containing the remains of Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, 26, of Glendale, Ky., Monday March 9, 2026, at Dover Air Force Base, Del. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

This image provided by the U.S. Army shows U.S. Army Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, 26, of Glendale, Ky. (U.S. Amy via AP)