Here we are, friends, and before we dive into today’s postseason recap, let’s set the scene. It has been 10 years since the Tigers played postseason baseball. In 2014, Mike Ilitch was still the owner, Brad Ausmus was in his first year as the manager (taking the helm of a strong 2013 ship from Jim Leyland). The primary pitching rotation consisted of Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Anibal Sanchez, and Rick Porcello. The Tigers were top of the AL Central.
The following season they would be fifth in the division, and it would take them 10 years to make their way back to October baseball.
The Houston Astros, in that time, have been to the World Series four times, winning it in 2017 (contentiously) and in 2022.
For game one, the Tigers turned to none other than Tarik Skubal, who is almost certain to take home the AL Cy Young. Framber Valdez, who came within one out of throwing a no-hitter in August, was the Astros’s man on the mound. Justin Verlander did not make the wild card roster.
The roof was closed in Houston, and the crowd bedecked in orange, which we can just pretend was celebrating the Tigers’ away colors. There were a surprising number of open seats, something that wouldn’t have been the case if these games were going down in Detroit.
Now let’s see how the game went down, because MLB decided no one wants to watch this series and slotted the games all in the middle of the afternoon.
Valdez started the first favoring his curveball, and walked Justyn-Henry Malloy with one out. Riley Greene then did something he’s done an awful lot of all season and grounded into a double play to end the inning. Tarik Skubal wasted no time plowing through the top of the Astros’ order. A one-pitch out started the inning, and two outs quickly followed. If he’s gunning for a Maddux, it’s a good way to get out of the gate, with a five-pitch inning.
In the second, Valdez showed signs of struggling slightly with his command and the Tigers took advantage. Wenceel Perez got a one-out single on a line drive to right, then Spencer Torkelson battled out a walk. Parker Meadows grounded into a force-out that saw Torkelson out, Meadows safe at first and Perez at third, 90 feet from home. Jake Rogers drew first blood, singling to center on 3-0 pitch, scoring Perez and putting the Tigers on the board first.
Trey Sweeney followed with a single to almost the same place as Rogers, and scored Meadows.
Can’t stop won’t stop as Vierling then singled to score Rogers, and Valdez was clearly starting to struggle as the Tigers took advantage. His mental game was obviously off. He did claim the final out of the inning at last, but the Tigers left the second up 3-0.
It was a nice, long break for Skubal. He got an easy first out, but then on the second batter of the inning, he took a comebacker to the wrist, knocking his glove to the ground, and forcing him to barehand a toss to first to get the out. It was a tense moment while the entire state of Michigan held its breath as management came to check on the ace, and ultimately though it likely hurts like the dickens, Skubal stayed in the game. It didn’t seem to slow him down any as he bounced back to get the final out of the inning.
Heading into the third and it looks like the lack of recoup time for Valdez meant he was still shaky. Andy Ibanez got a one-out double deep into the right-field corner. The inning ended with a line drive off the bat of Torkelson that was nabbed in a sensational catch by shortstop Jeremy Pena. In the bottom of the third the Astros finally got themselves a baserunner in Victor Caratini, who hit a leadoff single to left. Caratini was quickly eliminated from the basepaths by a force out off the bat of Mauricio Dubon, who ended up safely at first. Jose Altuve then singled to put two on, but the threat was short-lived as Kyle Tucker lined out to end the inning.
Parker Meadows singled to start off the fourth inning. With two outs, Meadows advanced to second on a Trey Sweeney strikeout. The Tigers weren’t able to bring Meadows home, though, as a Vierling strikeout ended the inning. In the home half of the fourth, Skubal started to show his first signs of strain, as he had longer at-bats and the Astros seemed to start seeing his pitches a bit better. Yordan Alvarez singled to center to start things off, then Bregman finally lined out after seeing nine pitches, almost twice as many as Skubal threw in the entire first inning. Yainer Diaz drew a walk. With two outs, Skubal came in very tight inside on Caratini and the park audio clearly got a loud “Sorry,” so Skubal is officially an honorary Canadian. (It might have actually been the home plate umpire yelling “Inside” but just let me have this.) Skubal did pitch himself out of the jam, though, getting Caratini to strike out to end the inning.
Justyn-Henry Malloy kicked off the fifth with a single, followed by a Riley Greene strikeout. Greene was the last batter Valdez would see for the game, as the Astros turned to their bullpen and called on Hector Neris. With a change to a right-handed pitcher, AJ Hinch immediately went to the bullpen and brought Colt Keith out to replace Andy Ibanez. Keith walked to put two men aboard. Wenceel Perez walked, and it was up to Spencer Torkelson if the Tigers were going to make moves. Unfortunately, Torkelson struck out to end the inning and leave two men stranded.
The game headed into the bottom of the fifth and Skubal was hoping not to repeat his shaky fourth inning efforts. Back-to-back lineouts and a flyout kept the pitch count nice and low, and the outfield active, and Torkelson awake at first base. It was a nice clean inning for the Tigers, as Skubal wasted no time getting through the order.
The Astros made another pitching change in the sixth, with Bryan King taking over from Neris. Jake Rogers got a one-out single to left. Trey Sweeney struck out, but that was it for King, who was swapped in favor of Ronel Blanco. Blanco got the final out in Matt Vierling and the Tigers once again left a runner stranded. Heading into the home half, Skubal got two outs before there was a minor injury delay for Skubal. I’m no expert, but it did seem like he might have just been giving himself a little breather. Bregman, who did see nine pitches from Skubal during his last at-bat singled, but fear not, Skubal got the final out. That was the end of the day for Skubal, whose final line was 6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, on 88 pitches. A really, really nice outing for Skubal.
Blanco was back on the mound in the seventh, and continued to dominate against the Tigers batters. Kerry Carpenter came in as a pinch-hitter for Malloy, but grounded out to first. With two outs, Colt Keith walked. Perez then singled, but the fly ball landed perfectly to allow Keith to get to third and Perez to second. The safe call at second was challenged, and while Perez’s hand did come off with the tag applied, his foot was also touching the back. The call stood, and the Tigers had two men in scoring position. Spencer Torkelson then walked to load the bases. Meadows then struck out, a missed opportunity indeed.
Will Vest was first out of the Tigers’ pen in the bottom of the seventh. Vest had a great relief inning, getting three Astros out in order, his pitches showing some very slick deception. The final out was from a pinch-hitting Jon Singleton who flew out to center.
Onto the eighth and Blanco fooled Rogers with three straight sliders that moved outside the plate. Matt Vierling got a two-out walk, and the Astros pulled Blanco and brought in Caleb Ferguson. Kerry Carpenter headed to the plate. Matt Vierling tried to steal second but got tagged out to end things for the Tigers. In the home half, Vest was back at it. He was absolutely filthy for two strikeouts before Hinch came in to pull him. Tyler Holton was next out of the pen and got Tucker to hit into a groundout to end the inning.
The Astros turned things over to Josh Hader for the ninth inning. After getting Carpenter out, Riley Greene hit a perfectly placed ground rule double deep into the right field corner that then bounced over the wall. Colt Keith grounded out to first, but it was enough to advance Greene to third. Perez popped out to end the inning.
The Tigers turned to Jason Foley in the bottom of the ninth, hoping to keep the shutout going. Yordan Alvarez got things going with a leadoff double, and the crowd got really loud after that. Zach Dezenzo came in to pinch run, and then Alex Bregman singled—though Trey Sweeney nabbed the ball beautifully to keep it to a single and save a run—and Dezenzo advanced to second with no outs. Yanier Diaz should have stuck out, but on a quick discussion between the umpires it was ruled that the ball was tipped into the dirt, and Diaz then singled to score Dezenzo. Jeremy Pena hit a sac bunt to advance the runners into scoring position. That was it for Foley, with Beau Brieske coming in to get them out of the jam. Caratini lined out to left and Greene nabbed it so cleanly there was no chance for the runner at third to get home. Two away. Chas McCormick walked, because we needed a loaded bases situation to make things interesting. Jason Heyward came up to the plate and lined out to first to end the inning and let us all collectively breathe.
Final: Tigers 3, Astros 1
Series: Tigers lead 1-0