Tarik Skubal continued his impressive season with a fantastic playoff debut, helping the Detroit Tigers score early against Framber Valdez in a 3-1 victory over the Houston Astros in their AL Wild Card Series opener on Tuesday.
The Tigers, who were swept in the American League Division Series during their last playoff appearance in 2014, celebrated their first postseason win since Game 4 of the 2013 AL Championship Series against Boston.
Houston, trailing 3-0 going into the ninth inning, managed to score with Yanier Diaz’s RBI single and loaded the bases when Jason Heyward hit a game-ending lineout against Beau Brieske.
Game 2 of the best-of-three series will take place on Wednesday in Houston.
Skubal, who won the AL pitching Triple Crown, gave up only four singles and walked one batter in six innings. The only hard hit against him was when a ball hit his right wrist from Diaz’s grounder in the second inning.
“It was a good challenge,” Skubal said. “It was fun. It was a ton of fun. I enjoyed it. It’s probably the most nervous I’ve been since my debut. That was also fun to deal with. What a game. It was fun, glad to come out with a win.”
Yordan Alvarez, playing for the first time since spraining his right knee on September 22, hit a double off Jason Foley to start the ninth inning. Pinch-runner Zach Dezenzo advanced to third on Alex Bregman’s infield single, and Diaz hit a grounder to right for a single.
Jeremy Peña sacrificed, Brieske came in to pitch, and Victor Caratini flew out to short left. Chas McCormick and Brieske got Heyward out for the save.
“Skubal has been really good all year,” Espada said. “We had a few chances there in the middle of the game, and we couldn’t capitalize. But credit to him. He made pitches. And we battled until the end. We had a shot there in the ninth, and we just couldn’t get a big hit.”
The AL West champions faced disappointment again as Valdez struggled in the playoffs, going 0-3 last year. Houston’s ace had a strong regular season with a 2.91 ERA, ranking third in the AL, but he gave up three runs and seven hits in just 4 1/3 innings on Tuesday.
Detroit took advantage of him in the second inning. Wenceel Pérez hit a single with one out, followed by Spencer Torkelson walking, and Parker Meadows grounding into a forceout, which left runners on the corners.
Jake Rogers, Trey Sweeney, and Matt Vierling then hit three consecutive RBI singles, giving the Tigers a 3-0 lead.
In the third inning, the Tigers had a runner on third with two outs when Peña made a diving catch at shortstop on Torkelson’s line drive.
This game marked a return to Houston for Detroit manager A.J. Hinch, who led the Astros to a championship in 2017 and last managed a postseason game during their loss in Game 7 of the 2019 World Series.
In January, he was suspended for a year by Major League Baseball and fired on the same day for his involvement in Houston’s sign-stealing scandal.
After his suspension ended, he joined the Tigers and helped the team return to the playoffs with a strong finish to the regular season, going 31-13.
“We talk about pressure on the bases,” Hinch said. “We talk about good at-bats. We talk about passing the baton. All those things came through with Tarik on the mound too. I don’t think it’s a small thing today in the first playoff game from a lot of these guys that it looked eerily familiar to the last two months.”
The Astros, making their eighth straight postseason appearance, had previously won a MLB-record 10 consecutive playoff openers and played their 98th postseason game since 2017.
