Detroit Tigers at Seattle Mariners

Like a lot of teams these days, the Mariners have a locally-themed mascot race during a between-innings break at T-Mobile Park. The Salmon Run features four mascots representing different species of salmon, racing from right-center field around the right-field corner and ending just before the home dugout. They often follow a common theme -- one mascot racing out to a big lead, another charging in late, then a mad dash for the finish line, possibly including hijinks. The Tigers do not have a mascot race at home, but they’ve seen enough of these. They’ve had a few hot streaks this summer to make you believe they were charging into the playoff chase, only to sputter. This feels different. It’s not just that the Tigers left town only a game out of the final AL Wild Card spot, now occupied by Texas. It’s how the Tigers have gotten here. They had every excuse to trip up Thursday, from a tough loss Wednesday night to a potential distraction from the dueling hit-by-pitches and clearing benches from the later innings that night, to an opposing starter who had owned them in the regular season for four years. Instead, the Tigers picked up where they had left off from Tuesday, putting up three first-inning runs on Bryce Miller and cruising to an 11-0 victory in the rubber match of their three-game series and AL Division Series rematch. “It was a good win and a good series win,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “There's always energy in this ballpark. That team \[was\