Detroit Tigers’ Trey Sweeney (27), Matt Vierling (8), Spencer Torkelson, center right, and Colt Keith (33) celebrate after Vierling, Keith, and Torkelson scored on a double by Andy Ibanez in the eighth inning of Game 2 of an AL Wild Card Series baseball game against the Houston Astros Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Kevin M. Cox)
HOUSTON — It was set up for a fairy-tale finish. And there ended up being one.
Though perhaps not the one anyone expected.
The Detroit Tigers, who on Aug. 10 were eight games under .500, are headed to the American League Division Series.
They erupted for four runs in the top of the eighth inning, keyed by a clutch three-run, pinch-hit double by Andy Ibanez and closed out the heavily-favored Houston Astros with a 5-2 win, deflating what had been a raucous crowd at Minute Maid Park.
It will be the Tigers’ first trip to the ALDS since 2013.
The Tigers went into the top of the eighth trailing, 2-1. The initial fairy-tale scenario had blown up on them in the bottom of the seventh.
Ahead, 1-0, and nine outs from the finish line, the bullpen doors swung open and out walked rookie Jackson Jobe, 22, with four big-league innings under his belt.
The story was writing itself. Except, this fairy tale turned into a nightmare.
The first pitch Jobe threw nicked leadoff hitter Victor Caratini. Jeremy Pen a followed with a bloop single. Mauricio Dubon reached on a bunt single.
Bases loaded, no outs in nine pitches.
Left-handed pinch-hitter Jon Singleton hit a ground-ball to the right of first baseman Spencer Torkelson. He stopped the ball with a dive but his hurried throw to the plate bounced and catcher Jake Rogers couldn’t field it.
Tie game.
Next up, Jose Altuve lofted a foul fly ball 197 feet down the line in right field. Matt Vierling caught the ball with his momentum going toward the plate and he made a strong throw. But Pen a outran it and the Astros were up, 2-1.
They still had runners at the corners with one out. Manager AJ Hinch, who mostly pulled the right strings in this one, summoned lefty Sean Guenther.
Right move.
In two pitches, he got lefty-swinging Kyle Tucker to hit into a 4-6-3 double-play.
As big of a gut punch as that inning was, Guenther kept it from being a knock-out punch.
Against right-hander Ryan Pressly in the eighth, Kerry Carpenter and Matt Vierling singled with one out. Carpenter, as the Tigers have done for two months, hustled to third base and opportunistically scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at 2.
After Riley Greene struck out, Colt Keith drew a walk and Astros manager Joe Espada brought in lefty closer Josh Hader.
Torkelson drew a walk to load the bases and Hinch sent up his lefty-slayer, Iban ez.
Ibanez struggled in September but he posted an .802 OPS against lefties during the season.
Ibanez slashed a 1-2 sinker into the gap in left, clearing the bases.
Insanity.
Will Vest closed out the ninth, with the help of another highlight-reel catch by Parker Meadows in center field.
So many pivot points in this game.
Manager AJ Hinch promised pitching chaos and he delivered in Game 2, especially when he lifted opener Tyler Holton after three batters and brought in right-hander Brenan Hanifee in the second inning.
This was not going to be an opener-bulk reliever game. It was going to be inning-by-inning matchup baseball.
Things got dicey for Hanifee in the second inning when he gave up a single to Alex Bregman on his first pitch and then walked Pena with two outs. Hinch, wanting to save lefty Brant Hurter for the dangerous left-handed hitters at the top of the Astros’ lineup, rolled the dice with Hanifee against left-handed-hitting Jason Heyward.
Hayward lined two balls foul down the first base line. Both would’ve scored both runners. Finally, Hurter elevated a fastball and got Heyward swinging.
Hanifee struck out Jose Altuve to start the third and then gave way to Hurter, who didn’t have his usual pinpoint command. But he was able to induce inning-ending double-plays in clutch situations.
After he walked Kyle Tucker in the third, he got Yordan Alvarez to roll over to second base. In the fourth, with two on and after he hit Victor Caratini with a sweeper, he got Pen a to bounce into a 6-4-3 double-play.
Beau Brieske, who got the save in Game 1 stranding the tying runs with one out, was summoned again in the fifth inning Wednesday with a runner on and one out.
He calmly dispatched Altuve and Tucker to end the inning. Hinch sent him back out in the sixth with the heart of the Astros’ order coming up. No problem. He walked Alvarez but after Bregman lined out, Yainer Diaz bounced into a 5-4-3 double-play.
The Tigers, meanwhile, were getting bullied by a hometown product. From his very first pitch, it was clear Wayne State University pitcher Hunter Brown was on a mission. He was firing 98-mph four-seamers and sinkers and breaking bats with 93-mph cutters.
He ended up striking out nine and allowed two hits in 5 2/3 innings. Kind of fitting. The Tigers have helped him get right all year.
When the Astros came to Comerica Park in May, Brown had an ERA over 8.0 and had been banished to the bullpen. But in the second game of the series, Brown came in and punched out seven in five strong innings.
He found whatever correction he needed to make and from that point made 23 starts posting a 2.46 ERA while holding hitters to a .216/.278/.311 slash-line with 150 strikeouts in 142 2/3 innings. During that stretch, he shut the Tigers out over seven innings with nine strikeouts at Minute Maid Park.
He was dominant again on Wednesday. The only blemish was the 94-mph four-seamer that Meadows clanked off the pole.
