Tigers turning to Tarik Skubal in Seattle for winner-take-all Game 5 of ALDS

SEATTLE (AP) — Even after blowing a three-run lead in Detroit with a chance to clinch the AL Division Series, the Seattle Mariners can redeem themselves at home in a winner-take-all Game 5 on Friday.

One problem: they'll need to get the better of Tigers ace Tarik Skubal again.

The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner allowed just two solo homers to Jorge Polanco across seven innings in Game 2, but the Mariners squeaked out a 3-2 victory that tied the series.

In fact, all three times Skubal has started against Seattle this year, the Mariners have won. The left-hander has a 4.58 ERA in those games, more than twice as high as his regular-season mark of 2.21.

“I think we’ve been able to get to Skubal throughout, and we have another chance to do that on Friday,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “And offensively, we’ve done some really good things in this series and continue to do some of those things today. So we will certainly be ready on Friday.”

Still, it’s Skubal. He struck out 14 batters against Cleveland in his Wild Card Series outing, showing just how dominant he can be.

And the Tigers are riding all sorts of momentum after scoring the last nine runs for a 9-3 victory Wednesday in Game 4 that set up the decisive Game 5 in Seattle.

For as much as Detroit’s offense has struggled this postseason — it scored 16 runs in its first six games — Wednesday was a glimpse into what the Tigers are capable of when getting contributions throughout their lineup.

Javier Báez, the flashy shortstop in the midst of a resurgent season, homered from the No. 9 spot. He leads the Tigers in batting average this postseason, ranks second in RBIs and is one of five Detroit players to go deep during these playoffs.

Báez, one of the Chicago Cubs’ postseason stars when they won the 2016 World Series, was thrilled to come through for the Tigers in their most recent win.

“It feels great,” Báez said. “Honestly, I wish I was part of it last year, when the team took off. I had to get away for my surgery, but there was a whole plan and a whole reason why I came here, you know?”

The Mariners, meanwhile, hope the pieces that helped them win the AL West and surge into October will be sufficient to top the Tigers and advance to their first American League Championship Series since 2001.

“These guys have done this all season long, where they get in tough situations,” Wilson said. “And they know exactly what to do, and they do fight back, and they do bounce back.”

If the Mariners want their season to continue, though, they’ll need to pounce on Skubal — or at least make life difficult for him — one final time.

Seattle will turn to right-hander George Kirby, who got the ball for Game 1 and also made a memorable start in Game 3 of the 2022 ALDS, tossing seven shutout innings against the Astros.

That game three years was the last elimination game at T-Mobile Park before Friday's matchup.

“I’m really excited once again to take the ball,” Kirby said, “and I’m just going to go out there and give it my all.”

Skubal was in this position last season, with a chance to pitch the Tigers into the ALCS by winning Game 5 of the Division Series. But he gave up a tiebreaking grand slam to Lane Thomas in the fifth inning of a 7-3 loss at Cleveland and was charged with five runs on six hits in six innings.

For all that's on the line, however, Skubal is doing his best not to make too much of the moment, even though he recognizes win-or-go-home games are a little different – especially for a Tigers franchise that hasn’t reached the ALCS in more than a decade, let alone won a World Series since 1984.

“Yeah, this is what competition is all about,” Skubal said. “This is why you play the game, for Game 5s.”

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

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)

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

Detroit Tigers' Will Vest and Javier Báez, right, celebrate a victory over the Seattle Mariners in Game 4 of baseball's American League Division Series Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Seattle Mariners' Randy Arozarena (56) is congratulated by teammate Julio Rodríguez (44) after scoring during the fifth inning in Game 4 of baseball's American League Division Series against the Detroit Tigers Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Tarik Skubal reacts after giving up a single to Seattle Mariners designated hitter Mitch Garver during the seventh inning in Game 2 of baseball's American League Division Series, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Donald Trump is set to meet Thursday at the White House with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, whose political party is widely considered to have won 2024 elections rejected by then-President Nicolás Maduro before the United States captured him in an audacious military raid this month.

Less than two weeks after U.S. forces seized Maduro and his wife at a heavily guarded compound in Caracas and brought them to New York to stand trial on drug trafficking charges, Trump will host the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Machado, having already dismissed her credibility to run Venezuela and raised doubts about his stated commitment to backing democratic rule in the country.

“She’s a very nice woman,” Trump told Reuters in an interview about Machado. “I’ve seen her on television. I think we’re just going to talk basics.”

The meeting comes as Trump and his top advisers have signaled their willingness to work with acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who was Maduro’s vice president and along with others in the deposed leader's inner circle remain in charge of day-to-day governmental operations.

Rodríguez herself has adopted a less strident position toward Trump and his “America First” policies toward the Western Hemisphere, saying she plans to continue releasing prisoners detained under Maduro — a move reportedly made at the behest of the Trump administration. Venezuela released several Americans this week.

Trump, a Republican, said Wednesday that he had a “great conversation” with Rodríguez, their first since Maduro was ousted.

“We had a call, a long call. We discussed a lot of things,” Trump told reporters. “And I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela.”

In endorsing Rodríguez, Trump has sidelined Machado, who has long been a face of resistance in Venezuela. She had sought to cultivate relationships with Trump and key advisers like Secretary of State Marco Rubio among the American right wing in a political gamble to ally herself with the U.S. government. She also intends to have a meeting in the Senate on Thursday afternoon.

Despite her alliance with Republicans, Trump was quick to snub her following Maduro’s capture. Just hours afterward, Trump said of Machado that “it would be very tough for her to be the leader. She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country. She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect.”

Machado has steered a careful course to avoid offending Trump, notably after winning last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, which Trump coveted. She has since thanked Trump and offered to share the prize with him, a move that has been rejected by the Nobel Institute.

Machado’s whereabouts have been largely unknown since she went into hiding early last year after being briefly detained in Caracas. She briefly reappeared in Oslo, Norway, in December after her daughter received the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf.

The industrial engineer and daughter of a steel magnate began challenging the ruling party in 2004, when the nongovernmental organization she co-founded, Súmate, promoted a referendum to recall then-President Hugo Chávez. The initiative failed, and Machado and other Súmate executives were charged with conspiracy.

A year later, she drew the anger of Chávez and his allies again for traveling to Washington to meet President George W. Bush. A photo showing her shaking hands with Bush in the Oval Office lives in the collective memory. Chávez considered Bush an adversary.

Almost two decades later, she marshaled millions of Venezuelans to reject Chávez’s successor, Maduro, for another term in the 2024 election. But ruling party-loyal electoral authorities declared him the winner despite ample credible evidence to the contrary. Ensuing anti-government protests ended in a brutal crackdown by state security forces.

Janetsky reported from Mexico City. AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

FILE - Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gestures to supporters during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro the day before his inauguration for a third term, in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, file)