Kevin McGonigle, Tigers walk off Mariners to end home series drought

Detroit — As crazy as it is to say on June 7, that was a critical walk-off win for the Tigers on Sunday.

>Rookie Kevin McGonigle ripped a two-out, two-run single off closer Andres Munoz and the Tigers beat the Seattle Mariners, 5-4, at Comerica Park, ending a four home series losing streak.

>The thing is, the Tigers don’t have time for losing streaks. The hole they dug in May is too deep. They went into the finale against the Seattle Mariners Sunday with a 26-39 record, 10.5 games behind Central Division-leading Cleveland and 5.5 games out of the final wild card spot with nine teams ahead of them.

>They can’t afford to lose two out of every three games. They can’t afford to lose five straight series at home.

>If they want to get back into serious contention, it’s going to take winning upwards of 60% of their games. And that’s not an exaggeration.

>So that sloppy sixth inning and those failed late scoring opportunities that put the Mariners in position to win the rubber match , well, it was going to leave a mark.

>The Tigers were losing 4-1 in the bottom of the seventh. They’d managed just two hits to that point, one of them was a prodigious, 402-foot blast by rookie Kevin McGonigle, and they left the bases loaded in the sixth.

>And they had the tying run at third base with no outs in the bottom of the seventh and didn’t get it across.

>Spencer Torkelson and Zach McKinstry singled off reliever Cooper Criswell and Wenceel Perez hit a triple in the right-field corner that scored them both.

>At that point, Mariners manager Dan Wilson brought in lefty Gabe Speier. Tigers’ manager AJ Hinch countered with right-handed hitting Matt Vierling.

>Vierling hit a ground ball right at the bag at third. Perez alertly got back to the bag but Vierling was out at first.

>Speier got McGonigle to fly to shallow left and he struck out Gleyber Torres.

>The game flipped in the sixth.

>Jack Flaherty, in a 1-1 game, allowed four hits with seven strikeouts through five innings. He got ahead of Julio Rodriguez 0-2 but didn’t finish him.

>Rodriguez hooked a 3-2 pitch into left field for what should’ve been a single. Riley Greene fielded it quickly but his throw came into the middle of the infield, allowing Rodriguez to advance to second. Josh Naylor, the villain of the first two games who drew loud boos all game, doubled him home.

>Flaherty’s day was done after he walked Randy Arozarena. Hinch, with three left-handed hitters coming up in the next four hitters, summoned lefty Drew Sommers.

>Luke Raley advanced the runners to second and third with a sacrifice bunt and Sommers struck out Dominic Canzone.

>Hinch then issued an intentional walk to right-handed hitting Patrick Wisdom, who was hitting .143 on the season but historically has hit lefties better than righties. Hinch preferred the matchup with left-handed hitting rookie Colt Emerson, who was 3 for 20 with nine strikeouts against lefties this season.

>Strategy was sound. Execution, not so much. Sommers got two strikes on Emerson but hit him with a pitch to force in a run.

>The Tigers got a favorable matchup in the bottom of the sixth, too, and that paid no dividends, either.

>Lefty reliever Jose A. Ferrer walked Greene and Dillon Dingler to load the bases with two outs. Hinch sent right-handed hitting Jahmai Jones to bat for lefty-swinging Colt Keith.

>Jones, so productive against lefties last season, had just one hit in his previous 32 plate appearances, fly out to center.

>The Mariners plated a two-out run off reliever Kyle Finnegan in the seventh that ended up being the winner. Rodriguez walked, stole second and third  and scored on a single by Arozarena.

>This is a developing story. Check back for more updates.

>Chris.McCosky@detroitnews.com

>@cmccosky

>This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Kevin McGonigle, Tigers walk off Mariners to end home series drought