The Detroit Tigers have advanced in MLB's playoffs.
The Tigers rallied in the eighth inning of Game 2 to sweep the AL wild-card series with the Houston Astros . The Tigers fell behind 2-1 in the seventh inning, but Andy Ibáñez hit a three-run triple with two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the eighth inning to take the decisive lead. The Tigers are now in the ALDS and will face the Cleveland Guardians in a best-of-five series starting Saturday.
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Manager A.J. Hinch leaned into what got Detroit to the playoffs and rolled with Tyler Holton as the opener and the bullpen for Game 2. Holton pitched one inning before being replaced by Brenan Hanifee , who lasted 1⅔ innings before giving way to Brant Hurter out of the bullpen. Hurter threw 1⅔ innings before Beau Brieske came in during the fifth inning. Brieske pitched through the sixth, before giving way to Jackson Jobe for the seventh and Sean Guenther for the eighth.
The Tigers are leading the Astros 5-2 in the eighth inning. Detroit took the lead in the top of the sixth inning on a Parker Meadows solo home run. Meadows turned on an inside fastball and snuck it inside the foul pole to lead off the inning and give the Tigers the lead. Jobe loaded the bases with a walk, bunt single and hit by pitch, then the Astros evened the game with an infield single and took the lead on a sacrifice fly. The Tigers answered with four runs in the eighth, three coming on a bases-clearing triple by Andy Ibáñez with the bases loaded and two outs.
Will Vest closed it out with a 1-2-3 ninth inning for the Tigers' first ALDS appearance in a decade.
Houston started Detroit native (Lakeview High School in St. Clair Shores) and Wayne State graduate Hunter Brown in Game 2. Brown, a right-handed pitcher, was 11-9 with a 3-49 ERA in 30 starts. Brown was pulled after 5⅔ innings after giving up the home run to Meadows but shut down the Tigers up until that point, holding them to two hits with nine strikeouts.
Check out the game recap below.
The Tigers did not blink an eye after losing the lead and punched right back for four runs to re-take a commanding lead.
With one out, Karry Carpenter hit a single then got around to third on a Matt Vierling single. Ryan Pressly then lost control of a low slider to Riley Greene that bounced away from Yainer Diaz to plate Carpenter and even the game at 2. Then, Spencer Torkelson drew a walk and Ibáñez drove in all three with a line drive rope down the left field line that cleared the bases. The ball stayed just fair, but went far enough to give Torkelson time to score from first.
Sean Guenther held things down with a quiet bottom of the eighth to preserve the lead.
A.J. Hinch went to the rookie out of the bullpen, but the gamble backfired and the Astros are now leading.
Jobe's third MLB appearance came in the seventh inning and he loaded the bases with no outs with a hit by pitch, walk and bunt single. Jon Singleton hit a ground ball in between Spencer Torkelson and Colt Keith , and Torkelson knocked it down and tried to get the runner at home, but Jake Rogers couldn't hang onto the bouncing ball, to tie the game. The next at-bat, Jose Altuve flew out into foul territory in short right field, but Matt Vierling couldn't throw out Mauricio Andre Dubón tagging from third on the sacrifice fly. Sean Guenther then came in and forced an inning-ending double play to escape the jam.
The Tigers' x-factor comes through again. Parker Meadows turned on an inside fastball from Hunter Brown and sent it flying 358 feet down the right-field line over the fence to give the Tigers the first lead of the game. It was just the Tigers' second hit, but it was powerful enough for the lead.
Brieske retired the Astros in short order after walking Yordan Alvarez to start the inning. Alex Bregman lined out to left field, then Yainer Diaz grounded into an inning-ending double play at shortstop.
Brant Hurter gave up a single and was relieved for Beau Brieske after a fielder's choice. Brieske got Jose Altuve to fly out on the first pitch and struck Kyle Tucker out with a perfectly placed 99 mph fastball on the outside corner to strand Chas McCormick at second.
Trey Sweeney reached on a two-out walk for Detroit and reached second on a steal, but Jake Rogers couldn't drive him in and struck out on an outside slider.
The Tigers were sat down in 1-2-3 order by Hunder Brown for a third inning out of four attempts.
Brant Hurter put two on base with one out with a single and hitting a batter, but got Jeremy Pena to ground into an inning-ending double play to Trey Sweeney at shortstop.
The Tigers are struggling against Brown's sinker, changeup and curveball mix. He finished the top of the third striking out Parker Meadows and Kerry Carpenter to get up to five strikeouts through the first three innings.
In the bottom, the Tigers' pitching chaos continued. Brenan Hanifee retired the first two hitters, including striking out Jose Altuve looking, then Hinch went to Brant Hurter to face lefties Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. After a walk, he got Alvarez ground out.
Hunter Brown seemed to cut through the Tigers' middle of the lineup, but Spencer Torkelson reached on a Jose Altuve throwing error with two outs to keep the inning alive. Zach McKinstry followed it up with a double to left-center to put runners at second and third, but Trey Sweeney ended the inning with a groundout.
In the bottom of the second, Hinch went to the bullpen already and had Brenan Hanifee as the first reliever. Hanifee gave up a lead-off single to Alex Bregman but then seemed to settle in with two quick outs. But, he walked Jeremy Pena to put two on, then had an eight-pitch affair with Jason Heyward . Heyward hit two on the screws but pulled them foul and Heyward finished off the at-bat with a strikeout on a high fastball.
The Tigers' first two hitters, Parker Meadows and Kerry Carpenter, made decent contact but recorded a line out and flyout, then Matt Vierling struck out looking.
Tyler Holton got Jose Altuve to ground out to third on a nice play from Zach McKinstry, struck out Kyle Tucker with an inside sinker on the hands, and then had Yordan Alvarez roll over a sweeper to second to end a seven-pitch at-bat.
The Tigers are hosting another watch party for local Detroit fans at Comerica Park. Yesterday, fans packed in to watch the Game 1 win.
The Tigers will have most of their pitching available after Skubal's strong start propelled them to the win on Tuesday. After Holton, the entire bullpen outside of Will Vest, who pitched a scoreless 1⅔ innings in relief yesterday, presumably should be available.
The Tigers will also get to go to their preferred lineup at the plate against the right-handed Brown. Kerry Carpenter and Colt Keith, who both came off the bench in Game 1 as pinch hitters to avoid Framber Valdez , are back in the lineup and spark plug Kerry Carpenter returns to the lead-off spot.
The Astros bats were quiet for eight innings in Game 1 but woke up late to provide a frightening jolt to hearts across Michigan. Houston couldn't capitalize with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning but was one missed pitch from Beau Brieske or slip-up from Spencer Torkelson from a dramatic walk-off win.
The Tigers will have two cracks at closing out the best-of-three wild-card series today and tomorrow (if necessary) to advance to the ALDS and face the Cleveland Guardians . Houston is no stranger to tough moments in October, however, and these young Tigers will have to close out their first playoff series. The Astros are trying to keep their streak of reaching an eighth-straight AL championship series.
INSIDER: Detroit Tigers' Game 1 win a building block for the future — like, today
Parker Meadows CF
Kerry Carpenter DH
Matt Vierling RF
Riley Greene LF
Colt Keith 2B
Spencer Torkelson 1B
Zach McKinstry 3B
Trey Sweeney SS
Jake Rogers C
Jose Altuve 2B
Kyle Tucker RF
Yordan Alvarez DH
Alex Bregman 3B
Yainer Diaz C
Jeremy Peña SS
Jason Heyward LF
Chas McCormick CF
The Tigers chose to leave off pitchers Kenta Maeda and Keider Montero from the playoff roster. Here is who made the 26-man roster.
Jake Rogers (C), Dillon Dingler (C), Andy Ibáñez (2B/3B), Colt Keith (2B), Jace Jung (3B), Zach McKinstry (UTIL), Trey Sweeney (SS), Spencer Torkelson (1B), Matt Vierling (3B/OF), Riley Greene (OF), Parker Meadows (CF), Kerry Carpenter (OF/DH), Wenceel Pérez (OF), Justyn-Henry Malloy (DH/OF), Beau Brieske (RHP), Jason Foley (RHP), Sean Guenther (LHP), Brenan Hanifee (RHP), Tyler Holton (LHP), Brant Hurter (LHP), Jackson Jobe (RHP), Ty Madden (RHP), Casey Mize (RHP), Reese Olson (RHP), Tarik Skubal (LHP), Will Vest (RHP).
Best-of-three series in MLB American League wild-card round .; *if necessary.
Game 1, Tuesday: Tigers 3, Astros 1
Game 2, Wednesday: Tigers at Astros, 2:32 p.m., ABC
∗Game 3, Thursday: Tigers at Astros, 2:32 p.m., ABC
Best-of-five series in ALDS ; *if necessary.
ALDS, Game 1, Saturday: Tigers/Astros winner at Cleveland, 1:08 p.m. TBS
ALDS, Game 2, Monday: Tigers/Astros winner at Cleveland, 4:08 p.m. TBS
ALDS, Game 3, Wednesday: Cleveland at Tigers/Astros winner, time TBD, TBS
*ALDS, Game 4, Thursday: Cleveland at Tigers/Astros winner, time TBD, TBS
*ALDS, Game 5, Saturday: Tigers/Astros winner at Cleveland, time TBD, TBS
Best-of-seven in ALCS ; *if necessary.
ALCS, Game 1, Monday, Oct. 14: Low seed at high seed, time TBD, TBS
ALCS, Game 2, Tuesday, Oct. 15: Low seed at high seed, time TBD, TBS
ALCS, Game 3, Thursday, Oct. 17: High seed at low seed, time TBD, TBS
ALCS, Game 4, Friday, Oct. 18: High seed at low seed, time TBD, TBS
*ALCS, Game 5, Saturday, Oct. 19: High seed at low seed, time TBD, TBS
*ALCS, Game 6, Monday, Oct. 21: Low seed at high seed, time TBD, TBS
*ALCS, Game 7, Tuesday, Oct. 22: Low seed at high seed, time TBD, TBS
Best-of-seven in World Series ; *if necessary.
World Series, Game 1: Friday, Oct. 25: AL vs. NL, time TBD, Fox
Jared Ramsey is a sports reporter for the Detroit Free Press covering the city's professional teams, the state's two flagship universities and more. Follow Jared on X @jared_ramsey22 , and email him at jramsey@freepress.com.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Astros Tigers score Game 2 playoffs: Highlights, channel, recap
