They are the faces of the franchise and on whose shoulders the Mariners have staked their present and future. Players who are already on their way to superstardom and who could reach heights of perpetuity in this region if this playoff run ends with a parade.

SEATTLE — Playoff baseball is back in Seattle this weekend, with Games 1 and 2 of the American League Division Series (ALDS) between the Mariners and the Detroit Tigers getting underway.

On a weekend when both Lumen Field and T-Mobile Park were packed with Seattle sports fans, the Mariners lifted a 24-year weight off their shoulders.

The Tigers’ first baseman laced a double to score two runs and tie the game in the top of the eighth inning of ALDS Game 2, a dramatic counter to the Mariners’ efforts to record the final few outs required to even the series after they dropped Game 1 in frustrating fashion in 11 innings.

It hasn’t happened since 2001, coming behind Jorge Polanco’s two-homer night and a shut-down save by Andrés Muñoz.

The Detroit Tigers named right-hander Jack Flaherty as their ALDS Game 3 starter vs the Mariners — the first 2025 MLB playoffs game at Comerica Park.

Throughout their optimism as he recovered from pectoral inflammation, the Mariners had also been bracing for the possibility that they’d be without Bryan Woo for the American League Division Series.

Seattle's most experienced postseason pitcher faces Detroit's ace and reigning Cy Young Award winner Sunday at T-Mobile Park.