HOUSTON — Tarik Skubal delivered an impressive performance with six shutout innings as the Detroit Tigers took a 3-1 victory over the Houston Astros in Game 1 of the American League wild-card series on Tuesday.
With this win, Detroit leads the best-of-three series 1-0, marking their first postseason victory since Game 4 of the 2013 AL Championship Series against the Boston Red Sox.
Skubal, a frontrunner for the AL Cy Young Award, proved his capability on the mound by allowing just four singles and one walk while striking out six batters. He retired the Astros in order during the first, second, and fifth innings, and showed remarkable composure by holding Houston to 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position, leaving five on base.
In the third inning, with runners on first and second and two outs, Skubal forced Kyle Tucker to fly out, ending the threat. He also struck out both Jeremy Pena and Victor Caratini with runners on base in the fourth inning and capped his outing by striking out Yainer Diaz after Alex Bregman’s two-out single in the sixth. Skubal threw 88 pitches, with 64 of them landing as strikes.
“That was a great environment,” Skubal said. “Obviously the history with this team — seven straight ALCS — I think that speaks for itself. The guys that they’ve got over there, too, a ton of talent. They handle left-handed pitching well. It was a good challenge. It was a ton of fun. I enjoyed it.”
Astros left-hander Framber Valdez faced early struggles in the second inning.
The Tigers generated a two-out rally thanks to Wenceel Perez and Spencer Torkelson reaching base with a single and a walk, respectively. Torkelson managed to get on base after falling behind 0-2, and the inning continued when Parker Meadows beat out a potential double play. Jake Rogers, Trey Sweeney, and Matt Vierling followed with consecutive RBI singles, with Vierling recording a powerful hit at an exit velocity of 108.3 mph against a changeup. Valdez ended the inning striking out Justyn-Henry Malloy, but the damage had been done in the three-run frame, which stood strong due to Skubal’s performance.
Astros manager Joe Espada acknowledged the challenges faced, stating, “We ran into a pretty good left-handed pitcher. Skubal has been really good all year. We had a few chances there in the middle of the game, and we couldn’t capitalize. But credit to him. He made pitches. And we battled ‘til the end.”
Valdez finished with a line of seven hits, two walks, and three strikeouts over 4 1/3 innings.
In a late-game effort, the Astros attempted a rally against Tigers reliever Jason Foley in the ninth inning with Yordan Alvarez hitting a double, followed by singles from Alex Bregman and Yainer Diaz, closing the gap to 3-1. A sacrifice bunt advanced the runners to second and third with one out, but Tigers right-hander Beau Brieske entered the game and recorded the final two outs, specifically getting Jason Heyward to line out to Torkelson at first base, leaving the bases loaded.