HOUSTON — Andy Ibanez produced a pinch-hit, two-out, three-run double in the top of the eighth inning and the Detroit Tigers capped a stunning sweep of their American League wild-card series with a 5-2 comeback victory over the Houston Astros in Game 2 on Wednesday.
With their two-game sweep, the Tigers advanced to the AL Division Series to face the Cleveland Guardians, with Game 1 set for Saturday in Cleveland. Detroit finished 6-7 against the AL Central champions this season.
After Houston scratched across a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh to secure a 2-1 lead, the Tigers fashioned a response against Astros reliever Ryan Pressly. Kerry Carpenter and Matt Veirling delivered back-to-back, one-out singles before Pressly (0-1) uncorked a wild pitch that plated Carpenter with the tying run. Pressly departed following his two-out walk to Colt Keith.
The Tigers kept the rally going against Astros closer Josh Hader, who walked Spencer Torkelson to load the bases. Ibanez, hitting for Zach McKinstry, lined a 1-2 sinker into the left field corner to score Vierling, Keith and Torkelson and supply Detroit with a three-run lead.
Six pitchers followed Tigers opener Tyler Horton, with the first three — Brenan Hanifee, Brant Hurter and Beau Brieske — combining with Horton to keep the Astros scoreless through six. Sean Guenther (1-0) and Will Vest worked the final 2 2/3 innings, with Vest recording the save with a perfect ninth.
“If you can switch the psyche and maybe take a tick of the pride and ego out of it, anything’s possible,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said of his players buying into playing flexible roles. “You can make decisions that put guys in a position to be successful. Who knows what we’re going to do.
“One of our things that we pride ourselves in is that we’re unpredictable and our players buy into that leading to success. When you find some success, you win a couple series. You perform on the highest stage. That strengthens that belief that we’re going to try to chase every strength we can.”
Astros right-hander Hunter Brown was exceptional in his first postseason start. He retired the first five batters he faced and was poised to complete two perfect frames before Jose Altuve threw wide of first base after a routine grounder by Torkelson.
That error cost Brown seven additional pitches in the second and resulted in the first of his two hits allowed, with McKinstry pushing Torkelson to third with his double to left-center. Brown stranded both runners in scoring position to ignite a stretch of nine consecutive batters retired, four via strikeouts. Trey Sweeney ended that run with a two-out walk in the fifth. Brown responded with a strikeout of Jake Rogers.
Brown had 83 pitches on his ledger through five scoreless frames, but his 85th pitch ended his shutout bid.
Detroit center fielder Parker Meadows turned on an 0-1 fastball and drove it 358 feet off the right field foul pole. That blast spotted the Tigers a 1-0 lead, and three batters later, Brown departed following a two-out walk of Riley Greene.
Brown worked 5 2/3 innings and allowed one run on two hits with two walks and nine strikeouts, the most by an Astros pitcher making his first postseason start since Mike Scott recorded 14 in Game 1 of the 1986 National League Championship Series against the New York Mets.
The Astros had their streak of seven consecutive ALCS appearances snapped and dropped their seventh consecutive postseason game at Minute Maid Park.
“Yeah, it’s challenging,” Astros manager Joe Espada said of facing an opponent employing a bullpen game. “You have to adjust. We were a hit away the last two days from taking the series. But baseball, you tip your hat to them and you move forward.”