HOUSTON — The ball rocketed off the bat of Jason Heyward, and for a split-second Tuesday afternoon, it appeared as if the Astros had pulled off a surprising come-from-behind win. When Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson squeezed his glove for the ultimate out in the ninth inning, the thrill turned rapidly to disappointment.
And now the Astros face desperation.
Heyward lined out with two outs and the bases loaded for a heart-stopping ending to Game 1 of the American League Wild Card Series at Minute Maid Park, the place the never-say-die Tigers stored their inconceivable run going with a 3-1 win over the Astros — Detroit’s first postseason win since 2013.
“Games of inches, right?” Astros supervisor Joe Espada stated. (*1*)
In the temporary historical past of the best-of-three Wild Card Series, groups profitable Game 1 have gone on to advance 14 out of 16 occasions. Of the ten groups to take Game 1 on the street, eight have received the sequence, together with seven by way of sweep. The Astros, who've superior to seven consecutive AL Championship Series, are watching a uncommon early October must-win state of affairs.
“I know this team,” McCormick stated. “We can come through. We had good momentum at the end, and that will carry on.”
The Astros will ship Detroit native Hunter Brown to the mound in Game 2 on Wednesday afternoon, seeking to even the sequence and snap their six-game dropping streak of postseason video games at residence. A win in Game 2 would drive a winner-take-all Game 3 on Thursday afternoon, when Yusei Kikuchi would begin for Houston.
“Obviously, it makes me feel great that my manager has the confidence in me to turn to me in this situation,” stated Brown, who went 10-4 with a 2.20 ERA with 15 high quality begins in his remaining 19 regular-season outings. “It's something that I prepared for and I've been looking forward to. So I'm excited for the opportunity.”
The Astros had no reply for Tigers ace Tarik Skubal, who received the AL pitching Triple Crown this 12 months by main the league in wins, strikeouts and ERA. He held Houston scoreless for six innings, whereas Houston ace lefty Framber Valdez struggled to seek out the zone early, with 18 balls in his first 35 pitches thrown.
“I missed all my pitches and fell behind a lot of hitters, but I tried keeping the game as close as possible at three runs,” Valdez stated. “I did what I could.”
Valdez, making his sixteenth profession postseason begin, was terrific in the second half of the season for the Astros, who received 14 of his remaining 16 begins. He was a far cry from that Tuesday, giving up three runs on seven hits and two walks with three strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings.
“I thought his stuff overall was good,” Espada stated. “His sinker was staying up in the zone a bit, and they got some pretty good swings on those pitches. He battled through five. He gave us a shot there.”
Valdez acquired a double play to finish the primary, however he acquired into bother in the second with runners at first and second and one out. He induced the bottom ball he needed from Parker Meadows, who raced down the first-base line with a dash pace of 30.3 ft per second to beat out one other double play. That loomed giant, because the Tigers pieced collectively three consecutive two-out singles for a 3-0 lead.
“We just didn't try to do too much,” Tigers supervisor A.J. Hinch stated. “We say this sometimes about not trying to be the hero and just play the game and see where it takes you.”
The Astros’ plan was to be aggressive in opposition to Skubal, and people early swings led to a 1-2-3 first inning on 5 pitches. Houston had two runners on base in the third and fourth however couldn’t discover a clutch hit. Skubal turned in one other five-pitch inning in the fifth and completed at 88 pitches. Just two different Major League pitchers since 2000 had put up two innings of 5 pitches or fewer in a postseason begin: Kansas City’s Johnny Cueto in Game 5 of the 2015 AL Division Series in opposition to Houston, and Yankees nice Andy Pettitte in Game 2 of the 2003 World Series vs. the Marlins.
Houston didn’t fare any higher in opposition to the Tigers’ bullpen, with Will Vest changing Skubal and putting out 4 of the 5 batters he confronted, together with three known as strike threes. But the Astros — 0-for-56 in the common season when trailing after eight innings — rallied in the ninth on hits by Yordan Alvarez, Alex Bregman and Yainer Diaz, who delivered an RBI single.
With the Minute Maid Park crowd on its ft, McCormick, in his first at-bat since Sept. 10, drew a stroll to load the bases for Heyward, who smoked a liner proper at Torkelson.
“Outstanding job by everyone to be in that spot, that position,” Heyward stated. “That’s literally the epitome of ‘Do everything you can to trust your process, grind it out, put up great ABs.’ Doesn’t go your way. That’s the game.”
