And just like that, the Seattle Mariners are up against it.
They lost Game 1 of the ALDS to the Detroit Tigers on Saturday night, 3-2 in 11 innings.
A 1-0 deficit in a best-of-five series is bad enough.
It's worse than Tarik Skubal is going to get the ball for the Tigers in Game 2.
Skubal, who went from an unheralded player at Seattle University to a Cy Young winner, will make it very tough for the Mariners to even the series up.
Seattle has had more success this season against Skubal than most, although that was early in the year.
Now, Skubal is firing on all cylinders.
The powerful lefty struck out 14 hitters, a career-high, in the Wild Card opener against the Cleveland Guardians.
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The Mariners will need to counter with solid pitching and timely hitting to have any chance at all.
It's a weird spot for the Tigers, too. They closed the regular season on such a terrible run that it wasn't even sure they'd get into the postseason.
But now, they pulled out the series over Cleveland and are off to a lead against Seattle.
And with Skubal up next, the Mariners are up against it right away.
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