Top storylines for epic win-or-go-home ALDS Game 5

The Blue Jays get to do exactly what you and I get to do on Friday night: kick back, relax and watch two teams fight their guts out for the right to play them in the American League Championship Series. For the Mariners and Tigers, though, their seasons are on the line.

There’s nothing quite like a win-or-go-home Game 5, and we’ve got an amazing one on tap on Friday night in Seattle. The Tigers haven’t won a World Series since 1984, and the Mariners remain the only team to never even reach the Fall Classic. This is a rare opportunity for both, but who will take advantage? I’m stressed out just thinking about it.

Throughout this postseason, I’ll be previewing the next day’s action, game by game. Here are three storylines for this sure-to-be-epic Game 5.

ALDS Game 5, presented by Booking.com: Tigers at Mariners (Tied 2-2)
Friday, 8 p.m. ET/5 PT on FOX
SP: Tarik Skubal (DET) vs. George Kirby (SEA)

1. A second chance for Skubal

This is a dream scenario for the Tigers, and really, for any team. One game, your entire season on the line, and the guy you get to put on the mound is Tarik Skubal, the best pitcher on the planet right now.

Here’s the weird thing, though: There is not, in fact, a big button that Detroit gets to push that says, “Pitch Skubal, Automatically Win Game.” The Tigers, of course, have already lost a game this series that Skubal has pitched. You may also remember the last time Skubal pitched in this exact situation one year ago and gave up that notorious grand slam to the Guardians’ Lane Thomas which sent Cleveland to the ALCS. And finally, the Mariners have had Skubal’s number throughout 2025, winning all three times they’ve faced him. But let’s not get it twisted here: This is Tarik Skubal we’re talking about, the last guy anyone wants to face in a scenario like this.

Also, it should be noted that the Tigers’ offense has finally started to break out of its funk of late. Spencer Torkelson is starting to get on a roll, Javier Báez has rebounded from a tough second half to pick up some big hits and Riley Greene launched a massive homer -- both literally and figuratively -- in Game 4.

That’s important, because with Skubal on the mound, Detroit may only need one or two big hits to win this game. Skubal is almost certainly about to earn his second AL Cy Young Award in a row, but even better, he now has a second chance to put his team on his back in the biggest start of his career (and in his old college town, no less). Can he deliver? And how deep can he go to take pressure off the Tigers’ bullpen?

2. Will the Mariners use both their aces?

Manager Dan Wilson finally tipped his hand on Thursday night about his Game 5 starter. Wilson actually had two enticing options: Game 1 starter George Kirby on five days of rest, or Game 2 starter Luis Castillo on four days of rest. Of those two excellent options, Wilson will go with Kirby – at least to start.

But the day off after Game 4 also means that the bullpen should be mostly rested, which makes this an all-hands-on-deck situation in the truest sense of the word. As Wilson even said Thursday: “Obviously everything's on the line, so anybody that's available will be down there and we can use.” The Tigers’ best hope to win Game 5 relies on one guy. The Mariners’ best hope relies on all the guys. And that could mean Castillo following Kirby out of the bullpen.

If the Mariners win while using both of their starters, they could have Logan Gilbert ready for ALCS Game 1 on four days of rest. If Bryan Woo is healthy enough, he could then slot back into the rotation for Game 2. But worrying about that is a luxury the Mariners cannot afford right now. They need to do whatever it takes to win this game, even if that means deploying a pair of aces.

3. Can Seattle avoid an all-time heartbreaker?

With all due respect to the Tigers here, the Mariners have had the feel -- for months now, but especially over the last fortnight -- of a team that is doing something special. There was the Ichiro speech. There was Cal Raleigh reaching 60 homers in the regular season, then hitting his first of the postseason right to a Mariners fan in a “Dump 61 here” shirt who had staked out the perfect spot in the Comerica Park bleachers. There were the absurdly loud crowds in Seattle.

It has been a long, long time since the baseball has been this good and this exciting in the Emerald City, and the fans have embraced these Mariners like the team they’ve been waiting their whole lives for. There is just joy in this Seattle team. (I’ve already written about how the Mariners are my favorite story in baseball right now.) It is all lining up for the M’s, and it has been for a while.

Which is why it’s downright alarming that the Mariners are now one game away from it all vanishing, going poof, and that game is one in which they have to face Skubal, of all people. I mean, is it really going to end like this? It might! The crowd at T-Mobile Park is going to be roaring and tense and stressed from the first pitch; don’t expect anyone to sit down once. But the only thing more overwhelming than the sound a fanbase like this can make when they’re excited is the silence that comes when they’re not. It’s all on the line in Game 5. The energy in Seattle, for better or worse, is going to be off the charts.