Mariners lead ALDS. Gilbert’s mastery, Suarez’s HR lift Seattle to Game 3 win

This is why the Mariners brought Eugenio Suarez home.

Seattle took the biggest swing of MLB’s July trade deadline for October moments like Tuesday’s — when their reacquired third baseman demolished Jack Flaherty’s middle-middle fastball 422 feet deep into the Detroit night.

Suarez admired his fourth-inning solo homer, acknowledged a rowdy Seattle dugout and rounded first base with his pointer fingers to the sky. He formed his signature “Geno Goggles” with both hands circled around his eyes, a nod to the Mariners relievers in the left field bullpen, before hoisting the trident in front of the Tigers faithful who wanted to see nothing less.

It was a silencer in Detroit. Suarez’s home run extended an early lead, and the Mariners rode Logan Gilbert’s six fantastic innings to a pivotal Game 3 win over the Tigers in the American League Division Series, 8-4.

EUGENIO SUÁREZ GOES YARD! #ALDSpic.twitter.com/dMOXSMM0AH— MLB (@MLB) October 8, 2025

Boos rained down from thousands among a packed Detroit crowd. Others shook their heads in disgust as the Mariners piled runs by the pair. The most frustrated of the bunch forfeited their pricey postseason tickets early, departing Comerica Park’s main level before the final pitch on their way back to the turnstiles.

One more win would lift Seattle into the American League Championship Series (ALCS) for the first time since 2001. The Mariners are the only team in MLB history to never win a league pennant, but a chance to change that brutal statistic grows by the week.

Gilbert was fabulous over six innings, mixing an effective slider with overpowering four-seamers and a devastating splitter considered one of the sport’s best pitches. The 6-foot-6 right-hander allowed four hits and one earned run with no walks and seven strikeouts, escaping a shaky fifth frame with only one run of damage.

Seattle’s Victor Robles led off the third inning with a stand-up double roped down the left field line. J.P. Crawford followed with a line-drive single to center field. Robles initially stopped at third base with no outs, but Detroit failed to cut off Parker Meadows’ throw to the infield, which bounced past Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler at home and rolled to the backstop.

Robles dashed for home and scored ahead of Dingler’s tag by milliseconds. A Tigers’ challenge confirmed Seattle had struck first for the third time in as many ALDS games.

Victor Robles scores the first run of the game on a WACKY play! #ALDSpic.twitter.com/Sopu3VVBDK— MLB (@MLB) October 7, 2025

Before Flaherty could finish the third inning, Randy Arozarena singled up the middle to score Crawford and double Seattle’s 2-0 lead.

Seattle pounced for another pair of runs in the fourth, sparked by Suarez’s blast. Dominic Canzone and Crawford walked before Cal Raleigh delivered an RBI single through the middle that drained the energy from Comerica Park.

Gilbert rolled through four innings before a shaky fifth when Javier Baez’s one-out single put runners on the corners. Kerry Carpenter followed with a textbook double-play ground ball to second, but Naylor couldn’t complete the inning-ending catch at first base. Dingler scored, the only run charged throughout Gilbert’s stellar night.

Crawford barreled a sixth-inning sweeper offered by Detroit’s Brant Hurter well into the right field seats at Comerica Park for a solo homer, extending a 5-1 Mariners lead. Seattle’s shortstop added a sacrifice fly in the eighth, scoring Luke Raley.

Raleigh delivered a two-run homer to left field in the ninth inning, caught by a front-row Mariners fan wearing a Northwest Green “Dump Here” shirt donning a fitting No. 61. It was Raleigh’s 61st home run of a historic campaign, following a 60-homer regular season that led MLB.

At first, Raleigh’s blast appeared inconsequential in a game the Mariners had locked up innings before. But the Tigers refused to fold in the face of a seven-run deficit, tagging Seattle reliever Caleb Ferguson for three hits and a walk before the left-hander could record an out.

It forced Andres Munoz to enter with an 8-4 lead, and “Senor Smoke” did the rest — capped by Naylor’s unassisted double play at first base on a Meadows lineout.

Tigers starter Flaherty lasted only 3-1/3 innings, taxing a Detroit bullpen ahead of Thursday’s Game 4 — where the Mariners can clinch this best-of-five set and advance to the ALCS with Toronto or New York. Flaherty allowed four hits and four runs (three earned) with three walks and six strikeouts, his shortest start since July 21.

This story will be updated.