Javier Báez hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning, and the Detroit Tigers held the Seattle Mariners to just one hit, coming from behind to win 2-1 on Thursday and finish a three-game sweep.
The teams had faced each other six times in nine days, with Detroit winning two of three games in Seattle last week.
“What an emotional turnaround at the end of a game that was tremendously pitched on both sides,” said Tigers manager A.J. Hinch. “This was a fun sweep.”
The Mariners had their starter pitch seven scoreless innings for the second game in a row, and once again, Yimi García was handed the lead. On Wednesday, García gave up a tying homer to Kerry Carpenter in a 3-2 loss in 10 innings.
This time, Parker Meadows walked and stole second base, but García retired the next two batters before being replaced by closer Andrés Muñoz.
Muñoz (2-4), who had not allowed a hit in a franchise-record 12 consecutive outings, threw a 2-1 slider that Báez hit over the left-field fence.
“It is hard to sit on a slider as hard as that guy throws,” Báez said. “You just have to trust yourself to wait for your pitch and do something with it.”
Shelby Miller (6-7) got the win with 1 1/3 hitless innings of relief, and Jason Foley pitched the ninth for his 16th save in Detroit’s fourth straight win.
Bryce Miller gave up two hits in seven innings for Seattle and struck out nine.
“This was like watching a rerun of a bad movie,” said Mariners manager Scott Servais. “Obviously, we can’t ask Bryce to do anything more than what he did today. We’ve just got to find some offense.”
The Mariners scored a total of four runs in the three-game series.
“You aren’t going to win games in this league with one or two runs,” Servais said. “Our pitching has been awesome — it has been awesome all year — but you need to get some hits and drive in some guys.”
