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The first day of the postseason started out tense and ended with a masterful pitching performance. Now three road teams and the Padres are just one win away from the Division Series. I’m Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal. Welcome to The Windup!
AL Wild Card Series: Tigers, Royals take openers
Both American League games were nail-biters, and in both cases, the underdogs took 1-0 leads on the road in these best-of-three series.
Tigers 3, Astros 1: The game ended with everyone’s breath stuck in their lungs for the nanosecond it took Jason Heyward’s line drive to find Spencer Torkelson’s glove. Had the ball found the grass, it likely would have tied the game in the bottom of the ninth — the Astros had the bases loaded. Instead, the Tigers lead the series.
- Tarik Skubal was as advertised despite taking a line drive off his right (non-throwing) wrist in the second inning. The AL Cy Young favorite went six scoreless innings on four hits, striking out six and walking one. Detroit’s offense came in one bunch: Jake Rogers, Trey Sweeney and Matt Vierling strung together back-to-back-to-back two-out RBI singles off Astros starter Framber Valdez in the second inning.
- Detroit native Hunter Brown will start for Houston in this afternoon’s Game 2 (2:30 p.m. ET, ABC), facing southpaw Tyler Holton as an opener, with Reese Olson likely to follow.
Royals 1, Orioles 0: Last year’s Aroldis-Chapman-for-Cole-Ragans deal continued to pay off for the Royals, as Ragans also went six shutout innings on four hits, striking out eight with no walks. Kansas City’s lone run came when Bobby Witt Jr. — who else? — singled home Maikel Garcia in the sixth inning.
- Baltimore’s Corbin Burnes was also excellent — one run in eight innings — but the Orioles offense simply didn’t have an answer for the Royals. Kansas City hasn’t won a series — any series — in Camden Yards in 10 years. If Seth Lugo can outduel Zach Eflin today (4:30 p.m. ET, ESPN), they’ll snap that streak and advance to the ALDS.
For more on Skubal and the Tigers, here’s Ken …
Ken’s Notebook: For Detroit, it all comes down to Skubal
In my postseason preview, I posed the question, “Can Tarik Skubal steal a series — or two?” I answered by writing, “Don’t laugh. If Skubal beats Framber Valdez in Game 1 (of the Wild Card Series), the pressure on the Astros will mount.”
Well, here we go.
Skubal shut out the AL West champions for six innings yesterday, providing a foundation for the Tigers’ stunning 3-1 victory. The Astros must win the final two games to continue their quest to appear in an eighth straight American League Championship Series. Not impossible. But the “pitching chaos” promised by Tigers manager A.J. Hinch awaits.
Every day, Baseball Reference publishes Immaculate Grid, a game that tests fans’ knowledge of players, their accomplishments and the teams for which they played. You know what would be a truly challenging grid, though? One that asks fans to name every member of the Tigers’ pitching staff other than Skubal.
Hinch used Will Vest, Tyler Holton and Jason Foley to complete yesterday’s victory. He plans to start Holton as an opener today. Heaven knows which relievers will follow, the “plan” the Tigers have used for the past two incredible months.
Still, everything starts with Skubal. If the Tigers somehow pull off an upset of the Astros, the two off days in the ALDS schedule will allow Skubal to start Game 2 on an extra day’s rest and then Game 5 on normal rest, if necessary. It’s difficult to imagine the Tigers winning a seven-game series playing rotation roulette. But a best of five? Why not?
In Skubal’s starts, the Tigers are now 22-10, the equivalent of a 111-win team. They have only two players with previous postseason experience — Matt Vierling and Kenta Maeda, the latter of whom did not even make the Wild Card Series roster.
Jack Flaherty, Mark Canha, Andrew Chafin and Gio Urshela all had such experience, and the Tigers purged every one of them. Their offense during the regular season ranked seventh in strikeouts and 20th in runs. But if their young players are aware of any of this, they sure don’t seem to care.
The Tigers are one win away from a Division Series matchup against the AL Central-rival Cleveland Guardians, against whom they were 6-7 in the regular season. As I wrote in my preview, it’s Skubal and chaos and make ‘em all famous. The Gritty Tigs just keep going.
NL Wild Card Series: Mets, Padres up 1-0
The NL games weren’t as close, but in a three-game series, the stakes are just as high today after the Mets and Padres took 1-0 leads.
Mets 8, Brewers 4: It was a see-saw affair for the first half of the game, with the Brewers and Mets each taking the lead twice. That stopped after the Mets strung together three walks and four singles to score the last five runs of the game. If you were expecting fireworks (remember the first series of the year?) well … we got a little bit.
- Neither starter — Freddy Peralta for Milwaukee, Luis Severino for New York — emerged with a pretty stat line, but the Mets bullpen was the difference; they didn’t allow a single baserunner in three innings, while Brewers relievers gave up five runs in five innings.
- OK, that’s a bit misleading. They gave up five runs in one inning immediately following Pat Murphy’s decision to pull Peralta after just four innings. After that outburst, neither team managed even one hit for the rest of the game.
- Tonight (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN), the Brewers will need Frankie Montas to beat Sean Manaea in a battle of former A’s, or their postseason will end early yet again.
Padres 4, Braves 0: Ideally, Atlanta would have had NL Cy Young candidate Chris Sale on the mound for Game 1. Instead, thanks to back spasms, Sale wasn’t even on the roster, and the Braves had to rely on 21-year-old AJ Smith-Shawver, who had started just one big-league game this season, back on May 23. Six pitches into the game, the Padres led 2-0, thanks to a two-run home run by Fernando Tatis Jr.
- Meanwhile, it feels weird to say the Padres won the Juan Soto trade, but look — if you absolutely gotta trade a guy, you could do worse than getting a pitcher who goes seven shutout innings with 12 strikeouts, no walks and just five hits allowed. Kyle Higashioka (also acquired in that trade) added a solo home run in the eighth, too.
- It has been a remarkable act of resilience for the Braves to even get to this point, but their back is against the wall now. With the season on the line, Max Fried will take on Joe Musgrove tonight (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2).
Unforced Errors: D-Backs owner puts Montgomery on blast
Well, that was unexpected.
Speaking to Arizona Sports 98.7 on Monday, Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick had some opinions to share about starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery.
“If anyone wants to blame anyone for Jordan Montgomery being a Diamondback, you’re talking to the guy that should be blamed,” Kendrick began.
It’s at this point listeners had to know that whatever was coming next was going to be a bit less guarded than what we’re used to.
“I brought it to their attention, I pushed for it. They agreed to it. It wasn’t in our game plan. … Looking back, in hindsight, a horrible decision to have invested that money in a guy who performed as poorly as he did. It’s our biggest mistake this season from a talent standpoint.”
OK, WOW.
Look, it’s not like Montgomery’s performance was stellar. But let’s not forget: he has a $22.5 million player option for next season — one he seems very likely to exercise, given his 2023 season. Maybe Kendrick’s comments were a calculated attempt to get Montgomery to decline the option and test free agency again?
It’s way more likely that Kendrick will still be signing Montgomery’s paychecks for a while longer.
Handshakes and High Fives
What’s a four-playoff-game day without a postseason Weird & Wild from Jayson Stark?
After the most arduous season of his career, Freddie Freeman is ready to embrace the next chapter: chasing a World Series ring.
Brendan Kuty examines where rookie outfielder Jasson Domínguez fits in the Yankees’ postseason plans.
Matt Gelb tells us how Jeff Hoffman found his confidence and became a pivotal part of the Phillies bullpen.
Everybody knows it: If the Guardians are going to succeed in October, it will be on the strength of their bullpen.
New Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey spoke with the media yesterday. Curious how he got the job? Turns out … he just asked for it.
Jim Bowden gives us his list of 11 impending free agents with the most on the line this postseason.
If you expect the Cubs to abandon their strategy and be more aggressive … not so fast, according to Jed Hoyer (who also spoke about Cody Bellinger).
After the Cubs parted ways with three coaches earlier this week, news broke last night that the Twins were moving on from their hitting coaches.
Evan Drellich notes that the silence from the commissioner and MLBPA in the immediate wake of Pete Rose’s passing is unusual.
Most-clicked in yesterday’s newsletter: Tyler Kepner’s ranking of the 36 possible World Series matchups.
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(Top photo: Troy Taormina / Imagn Images)
