Manager A.J. Hinch wanted his Detroit Tigers to reflect the spirit of their home city: hard-working, persistent, and full of grit. That’s how they charged into October—and kept pushing forward.
Andy Ibáñez hit a key three-run double during a four-run eighth inning, helping the Tigers defeat the Houston Astros 5-2 in Game 2 of their AL Wild Card Series on Wednesday.
“Our city is built on grit,” a happy Hinch said in a celebration-filled clubhouse. “That’s what it is. I remember saying that I wanted to have a team that this city is proud of. I think the city is pretty proud of what we’re doing and how we’re doing it and the fight that this team shows.”
Parker Meadows hit a home run, marking the end of Houston’s streak of seven straight appearances in the AL Championship Series. This win was especially meaningful for Hinch, who had led Houston to a championship in 2017 and was let go following the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal.
“This is what you play for,” he said. “Baseball’s great.” The next challenge for the wild-card Tigers is a series against the AL Central champions in Cleveland, with Game 1 scheduled for Saturday.
“Even though nobody was cheering for us, and nobody was giving us a good chance for the playoffs, we didn’t care,” Ibáñez said. “We just put in hard work … to make the results come.”
Kerry Carpenter kicked off Detroit’s rally in the eighth with a single off Ryan Pressly (0-1), who had converted his first 14 postseason save chances. Carpenter moved to third on a single by Matt Vierling and scored on a wild pitch, tying the game at 2.
Pressly left after Colt Keith walked with two outs, and closer Josh Hader walked Spencer Torkelson to fill the bases. Hinch then brought in Ibáñez to hit for Zach McKinstry, and he connected with a 1-2 sinker, sending it into the left-field corner for a 5-2 lead.
Ibáñez hadn’t driven in a run since September 10 and had struggled, hitting just .167 in September. “He’s had a tough stretch,” Hinch said. “But his season restarts in October, and he’s showing that.”
Vierling, Keith, and Torkelson celebrated with jumps and high-fives after scoring on Ibáñez’s important hit. Ibáñez raised his arms in joy as he reached second base.
Hader, who signed a $95 million, five-year deal with Houston in January, gave up three hits and walked two in 1 1/3 innings.
Detroit used seven different pitchers, following a win by Triple Crown winner Tarik Skubal in the series opener. Sean Guenther pitched 1 2/3 innings for the win in Game 2, and Will Vest closed it out in the ninth for the save.
This was Detroit’s first postseason appearance since 2014, and they also got a solo home run from Meadows in the sixth, marking the franchise’s first playoff series win since the 2013 ALDS.
Just making it to the playoffs seemed unlikely before Detroit went 31-13 down the stretch of the regular season, aided by Hinch’s leadership—someone who knows about success in October from his time with the Astros.
“They did everything right to win the series,” Houston second baseman Jose Altuve said.
Since the Wild Card Series started in 2002, eight of the first nine have ended in sweeps. This is the fourth sweep in postseason history for the Tigers, who previously swept the AL Championship Series in 1984, 2006, and 2012.
The Astros took the lead in the seventh but lost their seventh straight postseason game at home. Houston’s streak in the ALCS included four World Series appearances and two titles.
“It’s tough,” manager Joe Espada said. “But I want our guys to be proud of how far we’ve come. It was a very challenging season, and we reached the postseason — that’s our goal every year. We win the division and then play deep into the playoffs.
It didn’t happen for us this year, but I want our guys to be proud of their resiliency and how tough this season was.”
The AL West champions couldn’t get the big hits they usually relied on during the regular season, but they managed to score a couple of runs through hustle plays in the seventh inning.
Mauricio Dubón got a bunt single to load the bases with no outs. Pinch-hitter Jon Singleton hit a grounder that first baseman Torkelson fielded and threw home from his knees. The throw was off-target and not in time to tag out Victor Caratini.
Torkelson, who was charged with an error on the play, hit the ground in frustration after Caratini scored, tying the game at 1.
Altuve then hit a fly ball that Vierling caught in foul territory in right, but his throw home was not fast enough to catch the speedy Jeremy Peña.
Houston designated hitter Yordan Alvarez returned for this series after missing time since spraining his right knee on September 22. He had two hits on Tuesday, but went 0 for 3 with a walk in Game 2 and clearly seemed to still be struggling with the injury.
When asked if he would have played if these were regular-season games, he said: “That’s a really good question, I don’t know.”
Houston starter Hunter Brown allowed just one hit, a double in the second inning until Meadows hit a home run off the foul pole in right field to start the sixth. Brown struck out nine in 5 1/3 innings in his eighth postseason game and first start.
