SEATTLE — Decades from now, an entire city — an entire Pacific Northwest region — will remember where they stood when Jorge Polanco delivered the momentous swing that sent the Seattle Mariners to their first American League Championship Series in 24 years.

Few nights at T-Mobile Park have embodied the soul of baseball like this — the dominant starting pitching, the dramatic home runs, the game-tying base hits that can send crowds into bedlam and the walk-offs that are etched in history books. This game had all of the above, an instant classic that propelled a franchise starved for postseason success to a stage unseen in a generation. The Mariners are now eight wins away from capturing its World Series dream.

Friday night’s winner-take-all Game 5 of the American League Division Series (ALDS) was tied at two in the bottom of the 15th inning when Polanco entered the batter’s box in front of 47,025 fans begging for him to be their hero. The screams echoed underneath a closed retractable roof as their second baseman stood at the plate with the bases loaded, a chance to deliver one of the most historic swings in franchise history.

Polanco swung through strike one, a low changeup offered by Detroit’s Tommy Kahnle. He fought the count full, then struck magic — a hard-hit single on Kahnle’s fourth changeup of the at-bat stung to right field on a line. J.P. Crawford, the winning run at third base, coasted home. Tigers right fielder Kerry Carpenter let the baseball roll to the wall.

“I was just trying to get a good pitch to hit,” Polanco said. “He throws a lot of changeups. He’s got a fastball in there. But yeah, like I said, I was just trying to get a good pitch to hit and try to drive in the runner from third.”

Polanco’s walk-off single lifted the Mariners over the Detroit Tigers, 3-2, ending a 15-inning marathon at T-Mobile Park in Game 5 of the ALDS. They have advanced to the ALCS with the Toronto Blue Jays, a best-of-seven series that begins Sunday night at Rogers Centre.

Scattered among the screams, fans offered hugs they had waited 24 years to share. Chants of “Let’s Go Mariners!” spread from the main level, through the concourse, and onto Edgar Martinez Drive below.

On February 3, the Mariners re-signed Polanco to a one-year deal to lengthen their lineup and fill a position of need. His 2024 season, Polanco’s first in a Seattle uniform, left plenty to be desired. But the front office and clubhouse knew a nagging knee injury was mainly to blame, as Polanco elected October surgery on his left patellar tendon. They believed in a bounce-back.

“I’m very thankful,” Polanco said. “Glory to God. He knows I wanted to be here. This is a special group. There’s a lot of really good guys and really good people. I just wanted to be back here.

“I had a tough time (in 2024), and the team kept in touch with me. I am glad I am back here.”

Kirby brilliant when M’s needed him most

George Kirby received the ovation of a lifetime. Seattle’s right-hander was brilliant under the brightest lights, quickly blossoming into one of the greatest efforts of his young baseball career as he exited in the sixth inning with five-plus shutout frames under his belt.

His fastball was lively, his slider ferocious. A sellout crowd of 47,025 knew the stakes, starved of an American League Championship Series (ALCS) appearance for 24 years. And they knew their 27-year-old right-hander had given the Mariners everything he had, as “Furious George” mowed through Tigers and put Seattle in the driver’s seat to win Friday night’s ALDS Game 5 at T-Mobile Park.

In possession of a 1-0 lead, Kirby allowed a leadoff double to Javier Baez in the sixth inning. Detroit’s Kerry Carpenter loomed in the on-deck circle — the man who crushed Seattle’s hearts with a two-run homer off Kirby in Game 1 and has tormented the right-hander throughout his entire career (7-for-13, 5 HR). Mariners manager Dan Wilson wanted no part of a nightmarish flashback to Saturday night, opting for fresh left-hander Gabe Speier to face the Tigers star.

The Mariners changed arms. The result didn’t.

Speier fell behind 1-0 and came back with a fastball on a silver platter, delivered middle-middle and demolished to right-center. Mariners center fielder Julio Rodriguez drifted to the warning track, then to the wall, before running out of room, and Carpenter had authored a moment he will never forget — a two-run homer that lifted the Tigers ahead of Seattle, 2-1, in a winner-take-all postseason game on the road.

Kirby’s final line: Five innings, three hits (two by Carpenter), one earned run, no walks, and six strikeouts. Tigers ace Tarik Skubal countered with another masterful performance, a pitcher’s duel between All-Stars that exceeded expectations.

Skubal, meanwhile, threw six brilliant innings, allowing two hits and one earned run with no walks and 13 strikeouts. He retired 14 consecutive Mariners to conclude a performance for the ages, fanning Cal Raleigh and letting out a Tiger-esque roar.

Carpenter went 4-for-5 with two walks and both Detroit RBIs: the hero had Seattle failed to claw back.

The pressing question all of T-Mobile Park asked in the days leading up to this pivotal Game 5: Could the Mariners shock the baseball world and rattle Tigers ace Tarik Skubal four times in a single season, something no team has ever done?

And the question Detroit had to answer: Could they give their ace ample run support in a pitching showcase where runs were at the highest of premiums?

Neither team could.

It’s what sent this do-or-die Game 5 to the 15th inning.

An unlikely hero

Leo Rivas thought he was pinch-running when the Mariners tasked him with the biggest at-bat of his life. Seattle trailed, 2-1, with two outs and two aboard in the seventh inning — and it was up to Rivas to deliver with 47,025 watching.

Rivas spent most of the 2025 season tormenting Pacific Coast League pitching with the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers. It wasn’t until MLB’s September call-ups that the Mariners brought him back for moments like these, asked to knot an elimination game with seven outs remaining in Seattle’s season.

Mitch Garver and the Mariners struck first with a sacrifice fly in the second, but an unsung hero delivered five innings later on his 28th birthday: The 5-foot-8 Rivas swatted the game-tying, RBI single to left field off Detroit’s Tyler Holton, scoring Polanco and recharging the energy from a dejected T-Mobile Park crowd that fell silent with Carpenter’s homer. Brand new ballgame.

“He’s little, but he came up huge today,” Julio Rodriguez said. “That was awesome.”

What followed was a 15-inning marathon that will go down as one of the greatest games in Mariners history. Six total starting pitchers appeared in an instant classic, including Seattle’s Logan Gilbert and Luis Castillo. Reliever Eduard Bazardo slammed the door each and every time the Tigers threatened, allowing Polanco to play hero.

Cal Raleigh couldn’t help but think of their 18-inning loss to the Houston Astros in Game 3 of the 2022 ALDS at T-Mobile Park, when the Mariners failed to score a run and lost 1-0 on Jeremy Pena’s solo homer in the 18th.

“I thought we’d never have to do that again, and this was damn close,” he said. “This one’s a lot better coming out on the other end.”

Seattle’s MVP candidate knows there’s more work to do. He repeated a slogan that has spread like wildfire, grabbing the public address microphone at home plate and hyping a crowd that sat through four hours and 58 minutes of heart-wrenching agony: “Might as well go win the whole f-ing thing.”

This game didn’t have to last for 15 nail-biting innings. Victor Robles swatted a leadoff double to right field in the 10th, a golden opportunity to strike before the top of the Mariners order stranded him aboard.

Rivas (walk) and Robles (hit by pitch) reached with no outs in the 12th, but J.P. Crawford flew out to left field and Randy Arozarena bounced into a 1-4-3 double play. Detroit’s dugout erupted.

In the 13th, Raleigh and Rodriguez drew leadoff walks that went for naught when Eugenio Suarez grounded into another inning-ending double play. If not for the pitching that propelled Seattle among the sport’s best, there would be no flight to Toronto.

Carpenter’s go-ahead homer triggered 9.1 shutout innings by the Mariners bullpen. They lived on sliders. Matt Brash was sensational, retiring all six batters faced. Andres Munoz threw 1.1 shutout relief innings, Bazardo struck out four across 2.2 innings, and Luis Castillo retired the final four Tigers before Polanco delivered what could be argued as the greatest swing in Mariners history.

“Ahh, we won! That’s what went through my head,” Rodriguez said, popping and spraying the teammates and media cohort with a freshly-chilled bottle of champagne. “I’m just so happy that (Jorge) was the guy that did it. I’m so happy for him.”

Logan Gilbert entered in the 10th, the first relief appearance of his professional career. Seattle’s Opening Day starter completed his primary workout before Friday’s first pitch, knowing a handful of bullpen tosses would be enough to complement the adrenaline.

“There’s been a ton of ups and downs, and every year, it feels like there’s been a big letdown,” he said. “We didn’t get as far as we thought. We’ve still got a lot of work to do, but I feel like we’re starting to show who we are.

“I was spraying the ball in the bullpen. I was fired up. Crazy moment. I had to honestly breathe and try to settle myself down. But once they played my music and I came out of the bullpen, you can’t settle down. You just let it eat.”

Residing in Seattle is an entire generation of Mariners fans without any recollection of an ALCS appearance, the last in 2001 after their record-breaking 116-win season. They suffered through 21 years of heartbreak, disappointment, and pain. A late-2018 rebuild offered little light at the end of a miles-long tunnel. There were few reasons to ‘Believe.’

Raleigh has pushed back. He’s stood up for frustrated fans, advocated to bring in offensive pieces to bolster the lineup, and inked a six-year extension earlier this year, proving his commitment to the franchise that drafted him seven years ago. They wouldn’t be here without him.

“I’m so happy for the fans,” Raleigh told The News Tribune. “They deserve this. The guys here in this clubhouse have worked really hard with them in mind, each and every day for the last couple of years.”