For 04-19-2013

SEATTLE – Detroit catcher Brayan Pena held onto Prince Fielder’s relay throw and absorbed a collision with Justin Smoak at home plate for the final out, and the Tigers outlasted the Seattle Mariners 2-1 in 14 innings Wednesday night. Smoak singled with one out off Joaquin Benoit, and with two outs Dustin Ackley doubled into the right-field corner. Third-base coach Jeff Datz didn’t hesitate in waiving Smoak around with the potential tying run. The relay from the outfield was up the third-base line a bit, but Pena caught it in plenty of time and held onto the ball during the collision.

SEATTLE – If Justin Smoak had to do it all over again, he’d simply catch the ball this time. But if Brendan Ryan had done that a few batters earlier, Smoak and the Mariners would not have been in the position of having to make split-second decisions to prevent the tying run from scoring. A depleted offensive attack in this 3-1 loss to the Texas Rangers on Saturday night had the Mariners in the postgame position of second-guessing just about everything they did at the plate and in the field.