They must’ve been serving charged lemonade at Minute Maid Park in Houston on Tuesday because the scene for the opening game of the best-of-three playoff series between the Houston Astros and the Detroit Tigers was electric.
Playoff veteran Framber Valdez got the starting job for the Astros, while American League Cy Young favorite Tarik Skubal took the mound for the Tigers.
Skubal won this round of the game within the game, throwing six dominant innings, stymieing the Astros offense, and keeping them off the board while adding on six strikeouts. The Tigers trainer visited Skubal on the mound twice, though both times he satisfied the trainer and was able to press on with his outing.
On the other side of the ball, all three Tigers runs were scored in the second inning. Wenceel Perez got the party started for the Tigers with a one-out single, followed by a Spencer Torkelson walk and a Parker Meadows fielder’s choice groundout that left runners on first and third with two outs. Jake Rogers, Trey Sweeney, and Matt Vierling then rattled off three consecutive singles to give the Tigers the early 3-0 lead.
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The Tigers offense was held in check after the second, but Skubal didn’t seem to mind, as the score was still 3-0 going into the bottom of the ninth, after Skubal combined with Will Vest and Tyler Holton to blank the Astros through eight innings.
Jason Foley came out to close the door on the Astros, though after the first two batters reached, an RBI single and a sacrifice bunt was the end of the day for Foley. Beau Brieske finished the game for real, sandwiching a walk between the final two outs, marking a big win for the Tigers in the first of three straight in Houston.
