Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers proved that he earned his favored Cy Young Award status on Tuesday, keeping the Houston Astros off-balance in a 3-1 victory. With the win, Detroit takes a 1-0 lead in the American League Wild Card series. The Tigers have a chance to pull off a two-game sweep when they and the Astros play again on Wednesday afternoon.
Astros starter Framber Valdez, who has a bevy of postseason experience, was not able to thwart the Tigers’ offense. Detroit posted three runs in the top of the second inning. That gave the Tigers a 3-0 lead, one that they never relinquished.
Houston Astros Don’t Get ‘Good Framber’
Valdez went 4 1/3 innings, allowing those three runs and seven hits. He struck out two but Houston Astros manager Joe Espada pulled Valdez from the game in the fifth inning. The Astros’ bullpen—Hector Neris, Bryan King, starting pitcher Ronel Blanco, Caleb Ferguson, and Josh Hader—did a stellar job of keeping Detroit off the scoreboard. They scattered three hits among them. Yet the Astros’ offense was nowhere to be found.
For Valdez, he realized the importance of getting off to a solid start. He managed to get out of a small jam in the first inning with a double-play ball. Yet in the second inning, the “Bad Framber” showed up instead of “Good Framber.” Valdez was not able to make clutch pitches when necessary.
“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 said. “I did what I could.”
As for Skubal, the young left-hander was lights out for Detroit. He said after Tuesday’s game that he found a way to stay grounded and not let the nerves and butterflies get the best of him.
6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K
Tarik Skubal was NAILS today! #Postseason pic.twitter.com/2bRXrL36du
— MLB (@MLB) October 1, 2024
“Breathe, execute pitches,” he said, The Associated Press reported. “That’s all you can do when you’re out there. Once I got off the mound and fired my first pitch, I think all that stuff kind of goes away.” Skubal allowed just four hits—all singles—and one walk in his six innings of work.
“Those guys swing early and often, put the ball in play,” he said. “You have to be relentless at throwing strikes and getting ahead. When you get behind, that’s when the damage starts happening.”
Jason Heyward Comes Up Just Short
Houston Astros hitters collected seven hits. Yordan Alvarez had a double to lead off the ninth inning against Detroit relief ace Jason Foley. Alex Bregman followed with a single, and Yanier Diaz’s single to right field scored pinch-runner Zach Dezenzo to put Houston within 3-1. With two outs, Houston loaded the bases thanks to a Chas McCormick walk.
But pinch-hitter Jason Heyward scorched a two-strike line drive right at Detroit first baseman Spencer Torkelson. Ballgame. “Outstanding job by everyone to be in that spot, that position,” Heyward said. “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.”
Jason Heyward hit it on the screws, but THE TIGERS SURVIVE! pic.twitter.com/X1xZMEWUBk
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) October 1, 2024
That sent Astros players back to the clubhouse. “Games of inches, right?” Espada said, according to MLB.com. “He hits that ball a few inches, a few feet over his head, that ball gets hit in the corner and [Chas] McCormick scores from first [and we win]. … Those guys never quit, so I’m not surprised by our push there at the end.”
Recent postseason home games have not gone into the win column for the Houston Astros. Now, they have to find a way to win not only on Wednesday but Thursday, too. Houston faces a backs-up-against-the-wall moment without veteran right-hander Justin Verlander, who was left off the Astros’ postseason roster.
Skubal was simply masterful, getting ahead of Astros hitters who were trying to ambush him early in counts. He had a killer fastball and wicked off-speed pitch working well in his outing. Tigers manager A.J. Hinch had to have been happy with Skubal’s effort. Yet if the Detroit-Houston series happens to reach a third game, Hinch probably won’t run him out to start again.
Could he pitch a couple of innings in relief if needed? That is a possibility because, well, it’s a do-or-die situation for the Houston Astros and Detroit Tigers if the series reaches a deciding Game 3.
“He’s all in,” Hinch said. “He will do anything. He’s intense, but he’s under control. He’s competitive, but he’s a thinking man’s pitcher. He’s got weapons. He’s the complete package of a guy that you want anchoring a staff. As he’s gotten more popular and more attention and more status within the game, he continues to work harder.”
Hunter Brown gets the ball for Houston in Game 2 at Minute Maid Park. The Houston Astros have lost six straight home postseason games. It will be up to Brown and a more effective Astros offense to even the series. Should Brown and Houston win, then Yusei Kikuchi, who has been lights out since coming to the Astros from Toronto, would get the Game 3 start.
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