HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — The Houston Astros are entering rare territory – a postseason elimination game before the American League Championship Series.
On Tuesday, a packed Minute Maid Park crowd watched the Detroit Tigers jump on Houston’s starting pitcher Framber Valdez early with a three-run second inning to propel the final AL playoff entrant to a Wild Card Series Game 1 win.
In contrast, the Tigers’ Tarik Skubal tamed Astros batters, limiting them to four hits, none of them for extra bases, across six innings.
The bats woke up when Yordan Alvarez, Alex Bregman, and Yainer Diaz registered the first three hits of the ninth inning while down by three runs. Houston plated the first run of their afternoon at that time, but it was too little, too late. With bases loaded and two outs, Jason Heyward lined out to Spencer Torkelson to end the game. The Astros drop Game 1, 3-1.
The outing was Valdez’s fourth consecutive postseason defeat dating back to last year’s AL Division Series.
The loss sets up something the Astros haven’t encountered in nine seasons: an elimination game in the Wild Card round. Since 2015, the Astros are 9-8 in playoff elimination games, most happening in the AL Championship Series or the World Series.
The only other time they’ve faced elimination in the Wild Card was in 2015 against the New York Yankees when that round was a one-game series.
Houston currently holds a streak of seven ALCS appearances. Hunter Brown, a Michigan native, is slated to start on the mound for the Astros in Game 2.
Minute Maid Park hosts the Tigers again for Game 2 on Wednesday. ABC13 will air the do-or-die game for the Astros at 1:30 p.m.
You can tune in to Channel 13 on television in the Houston area.
You can stream ABC13 if you also have Hulu + Live TV.
