The American League Championship Series has been a Houston Astros invitational since 2016, but it will look a little different this year.
A red-hot Detroit Tigers team upset Houston in the American League Wild Card Series Wednesday with a 5-2 win, sweeping the Astros in the best-of-three set.
Houston took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning after trailing 1-0 to start the frame. However, a Kyle Tucker double play killed the rally, and the gritty Tigers were back at it against what may be the best back end of a bullpen in the sport.
With one out, Detroit hit back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners, and a Ryan Pressly wild pitch tied the game. Pressly allowed a two-out walk, prompting Astros manager Joe Espada to bring in Josh Hader. However, after the dominant closer walked his first batter, Andy Ibanez ripped one down the left-field line, clearing the bases and putting Detroit up, 5-2.
Detroit went with a full bullpen game, and seven different pitchers took the rubber for the win.
Houston went with Hunter Brown, who tossed 5⅔ innings of one-run ball. Normally, when you give the ball to Pressly and Hader, good things happen. But Wednesday was a rare exception.
The Tigers, sellers at the trade deadline, finished the season 31-13 in their final 44 games, clinching the sixth and final spot in the American League postseason standings. At one point in August, they were 11 games back of a postseason spot.
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But, for some reason, they keep on winning. Having the likely Cy Young Award winner in Tarik Skubal doesn’t hurt either. He shut down Houston’s lineup with six scoreless innings in Game 1 Tuesday, and Detroit got its first postseason win since 2014.
That year marks the last time Houston failed to reach the ALDS until Wednesday. Houston’s championship series streak was the second longest in MLB history, behind only the eight consecutive made by the Atlanta Braves in the 1990s.
Tigers manager A.J. Hinch also took down his former team. Hinch managed the Astros from 2015 to 2019 before being fired after their infamous sign-stealing scandal came to light.
It remains to be seen whether Alex Bregman has played his final game with the Astros. He will be a free agent after the season.
Detroit will have a date with the AL Central rival Cleveland Guardians in the ALDS. Detroit lost that season series 7-6.
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