Kerry Carpenter's Barry Bonds act vs. George Kirby has Mariners fans in tears

George Kirby did all he could for the Seattle Mariners in Game 1 of the ALDS against the Detroit Tigers. One mistake, however, cost him two runs, and could potentially cost the Mariners the game.

The mistake was against Kerry Carpenter in the top of the fifth inning, with the Tigers outfielder launching his fifth home run off the Mariners young starter. Going into the game, Carpenter was already 4-for-8 against Kirby in his career, with four home runs.

Kirby got the better of Carpenter in his first two at-bats, but Carpenter got the next laugh, sending a two-run homer easily over the right field fence to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead.

To be fair to Kirby, it's hard to really consider his pitch a mistake. He gave Carpenter a high fastball, likely on purpose to keep the ball out of the zone. Carpenter responded by turning on it, and hitting perhaps the most difficult home run of his career.

At 3.88 feet above the ground, it was the highest pitch Carpenter had ever hit out of the park in his career, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com.

George Kirby should really consider giving Kerry Carpenter the Barry Bonds treatment

Still, it's worth wondering if, going forward, Kirby should simply stop pitching to Carpenter, in order to avoid any more trouble. Now 5-for-11 with five home runs, it's clear that Carpenter has some sort of edge when it comes to hitting against Kirby.

Usually, one home run is not the end of the world, but in a crucial game one, every run matters. The winners of Game 1 win 64.3 percent of postseason series, according to Sports Insider. Seattle will need to scrap their way back into this one if it wants to leave their home crowd feeling good tonight. Credit to Kirby for giving the Mariners five innings of two-run ball, but let's hope Carpenter's home run does not become the dagger that loses the Mariners this game.