The longest sudden-death game in Major League Baseball history ended with Jorge Polanco’s heroics. The six-foot switch-hitter from San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic — the same baseball cradle that produced Sammy Sosa, Alfonso Soriano, Tony Fernández, Rico Carty, Mariano Duncan, and Fernando Tatís — once again did what he’s done all year: deliver when everything was on the line.
The man World Baseball Network annointed Most Clutch Hitter of 2025 ripped a 110.2-mph single into right field to lift the Seattle Mariners past the Detroit Tigers, 3–2, and into the American League Championship Series.
Mariners Jorge Polanco sends them to the ALCS with a walk-off single against the Tigers in 15 innings 🍾#Postseason #BuiltForOctober #TridentsUp pic.twitter.com/by1IM2X4o1
— World Baseball Network (@WorldBaseball_) October 11, 2025
Detroit ace Tarik Skubal was electric — 13 strikeouts on 99 pitches through six innings — and for a while it looked like that would be enough. But once Skubal’s night ended, the game tilted.
Polanco finished 13th in MVP voting back in 2019, but the season he’s putting together now feels historic.
If Polanco delivers Seattle its first World Series trophy at this hero’s pace, the poor guy won’t even be able to buy fish at Pike Place, sneak a quiet look at the Space Needle, or open his laptop to catch a rerun of Frasier in a café without being mobbed.
An amazing throw by the Mariners Cal Raleigh that kept the Tigers scoreless through 4 innings! #Postseason #TridentsUp #BuiltForOctober pic.twitter.com/U2zfmkg7VP
— World Baseball Network (@WorldBaseball_) October 11, 2025
Detroit struck first in the sixth when Kerry Carpenter (4-for-5, 2 RBI, 2 BB) blasted a two-run homer off Gabe Speier, following a Javier Báez double.
Tigers Kerry Carpenter with a clutch go-ahead home run against the Mariners!
pic.twitter.com/gSYCwiVN2f— World Baseball Network (@WorldBaseball_) October 11, 2025
But by the seventh, after grinding through deep counts, Polanco drew a walk off Kyle Finnegan — setting up what came next.
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Seattle Mariners’ Jorge Polanco celebrates his game-winning RBI-single in the 15th inning in Game 5 of baseball’s American League Division Series against the Detroit Tigers, Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Seattle Mariners’ Jorge Polanco reacts after hitting an RBI-single for J.P. Crawford to score the game-winning run during the 15th inning in Game 5 of baseball’s American League Division Series against the Detroit Tigers, Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
With two outs, Leo Rivas came to the plate on his 28th birthday for his first postseason at-bat and lined a single to left to score Polanco and tie the game 2–2.
“I thought I’d be running for Polo on second,” Rivas said afterward. “Then Manny goes, ‘Hey Papa, come here. Go get this guy.’ Thank God I did.”
It was the kind of team-wide moment that manager Dan Wilson said defines this Seattle group.
“They didn’t want to leave the ballpark until they won,” Wilson said. “It makes me a little emotional — just how much they fought tonight.”
The score stayed locked until the 15th inning, when Polanco stepped in again — same approach, same result.
“Straight through the middle,” he told Tom Verducci afterward. “As soon as I saw Julio, I stayed focused. The little bit of time I had, I just sticked to my plan.”
On a 3–2 changeup from Tommy Kahnle, he turned it around at 110.2 mph and lined it to right — a single that ended the longest sudden-death game in Major League Baseball history and sent Seattle to the ALCS.
“It was my time,” Polanco said. “But my teammates did a good job too.”
He’s already had seven clutch games this year. Friday night made it eight — and his biggest yet.
If he keeps swinging like this, the legend of Jorge Polanco won’t stay confined to San Pedro de Macorís or the box scores — it’ll live in every roar that shakes T-Mobile Park.
WBN previously chronicled seven games that proved Polanco’s clutch credentials, including two solo shots off Skubal in Game 2 of this ALDS. Friday night made it eight — and his biggest yet.
This wasn’t a fluke — it was the eighth entry in a season-long pattern.
As covered in “7 Games That Prove Jorge Polanco Is Most Clutch in MLB” (Oct. 6, 2025), his fingerprints are already all over Seattle’s biggest wins:
April 4 @ Giants: 3-for-5, HR, 4 RBI — sparked an 11-inning comeback.
April 7 vs Astros: 2-run single flipped the score late in a 4–3 win.
April 29 vs Angels: two home runs, five RBI, and a dugout eruption.
August 25 vs Padres: two-run homer that reignited Seattle’s stretch run.
September 10 vs Cardinals: 11th-inning RBI single sealed another extra-inning win.
September 27 vs Dodgers: go-ahead three-run HR vs a playoff-bound LA team.
October 5 vs Tigers (ALDS Game 2): two solo shots off Tarik Skubal that tied the series.
Friday’s 15-inning walk-off single made No. 8, and arguably the most dramatic of them all — the swing that ended the longest sudden-death game in Major League Baseball history.
Seattle advances with momentum — and Jorge Polanco remains the heartbeat of October.
Seattle Mariners players celebrate with second baseman Jorge Polanco, center, after he hit the game-winning RBI single in the 15th inning in Game 5 of baseball’s American League Division Series against the Detroit Tigers, Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)
