SEATTLE -- With their season on the line, the Mariners will turn to George Kirby in Game 5 of the American League Division Series against the Tigers, manager Dan Wilson revealed after Thursday’s workout at T-Mobile Park.
Kirby, a 2023 All-Star and one of the sport’s premier strike throwers, will pitch opposite Tarik Skubal, the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner and the frontrunner to repeat.
No team has ever defeated the Tigers four times in a single season in a game started by Skubal over his six-year career, and the Mariners will have to become the first to advance to the AL Championship Series, where the Blue Jays await after defeating the Yankees in the ALDS.
This will be Kirby's second career postseason elimination start, having taken the mound in Game 3 of the 2022 ALDS vs. Houston, when he twirled seven scoreless innings in that 18-inning marathon that ended in a 1-0 loss and a sweep.
“I think it definitely helps to get a little experience under my belt a couple years ago,” Kirby said. “It kind of helps with how you deal with all the nerves and all that kind of stuff that goes into the game. But yeah, I'm really excited once again to take the ball, and I'm just going to go out there and give it my all.”
Kirby also started Game 1 of this ALDS against the Tigers, throwing four scoreless innings before surrendering what wound up being a decisive, two-run homer to Kerry Carpenter with two outs in the fifth of last Saturday's 3-2 loss.
“You can always switch up your game plan, whatnot,” Kirby said. “But I think it really just comes down to having some conviction in your pitches and executing. More times than not, when me or anyone else executes, you get the guy out. So it's just staying locked in on every pitch, being committed, having some conviction on every pitch, and kind of just leave it all out there.”
Essentially, the Mariners remained on turn within their postseason rotation -- but they did have the option to start Luis Castillo on regular rest due to the two off-days to travel between cities this week. “La Piedra” started opposite Skubal in Seattle’s 3-2 win in Game 2, when he labored with command early yet didn’t give up a single hit over 4 2/3 innings.
“I think certainly in terms of the rest, George had a little bit more,” Wilson said. “And they both threw very, very well against Detroit. George certainly threw the ball extremely well, and it was kind of by design. This is kind of the way we had hoped it would work out, so this is the way it went.”
Castillo will indeed be available out of the bullpen in an all-out effort on Friday.
“That's the phrase, all hands are on deck tomorrow,” Wilson said. “It's a Game 5. Obviously, everything's on the line, so anybody that's available will be down there.”
The more curious option would be Logan Gilbert, who threw six dominant innings in Game 3 on Tuesday and could conceivably be used if it’s done so in place of his in-between bullpen session. Even in that context, Gilbert would likely only be available an inning or two, depending on pitch count.
Gilbert would almost certainly be their ALCS Game 1 starter, too -- but they have to get there first.
Speaking of Toronto, Kirby’s most memorable moment in the big leagues was at the very venue that they are looking to advance to -- Rogers Centre, where he closed out Game 2 of the 2022 AL Wild Card Series as a rookie, earning his first and only career save.
Over three playoff outings, Kirby has a 1.38 ERA across 13 innings, with 14 strikeouts, two walks and just the one homer allowed, to Carpenter.
In the 2025 regular season, Kirby went 10-8 with a 4.21 ERA (90 ERA+, where league average is 100) with a 26.5% strikeout rate and 5.5% walk rate over a career-low 126 innings across 23 starts, having missed the first two months of the season due to right shoulder inflammation that first surfaced in Spring Training.