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Unbreakable Tigers are all in and anything is possible now

Vaseline October 3, 2024

Houston — The Tigers continue to do it their way, the only way they know, the most remarkable way possible. Call it chaos, character, coupling. Pick a description, pick a player, the Tigers use them all.

They just rolled into Houston and wiped out a venerable playoff team, taking the old out and the new in. They did it by mixing and matching, and ultimately pureeing. From another drama-drenched game to another champagne-drenched clubhouse, the Tigers ousted the Astros and advanced to the ALDS.

They did it with the perfect player in the perfect spot, a backup whose job is to perform in an emergency. Sure enough, Andy Ibanez came and doubled out with the bases loaded in the eighth inning, breaking the tie and giving the Tigers a 5-2 win over the Astros Wednesday and a 2-0 series victory . He did it against one of baseball’s elite relievers, Josh Hader, who signed a $95 million contract to win games like this.

The Tigers don’t care as they prepare to host games on Wednesday and Thursday in Detroit. They weren’t supposed to be in the playoffs and not beat the legendary Astros. This was the postseason debut for every Tiger player but one, and they showed off their unconventional style. Their unpredictability has officially become predictable, and if they weren’t dangerous before, they certainly are now.

They head to Cleveland on Saturday to open the best-of-five ALDS, and the way they’ve played over the past two months, nothing seems insurmountable. Manager AJ Hinch continues to use his entire roster, sending guys off the bench to the bullpen, “causing chaos” as he calls it.

If the Tigers keep this up, they’ll have to stock up on champagne and beer. Oh, and plastic sheeting to protect the lockers from the bubbles. As the players jumped up and shouted and sprayed each other indiscriminately after the match, Hinch stood alone on the sidelines and watched with a satisfied smile.

“It keeps getting better; this never gets old,” he said. “This team is now play-off tested. I think we passed a pretty good test in this series. We still have more games to play, but I love how we are playing until the end.”

More: Tigers-Astros: Here’s complete coverage of the AL Wild Card Series

It’s not really a surprise if it’s analyzed and calculated from the first pitch. The Tigers have one starting pitcher, Tarik Skubal, and a group of openers who can come in at any time. Tyler Holton started this game and left after one inning to Brenan Hanifee, who left after two innings to Brant Hurter, who left after two innings to Beau Brieske.

‘Never leave again’

It moved the Tigers to seventh place with a 1-0 lead, thanks to a Parker Meadows home run. In playoff baseball, the distance between delirium and disaster isn’t far, and the Tigers got a sobering dose of it. Hinch brought in rookie Jackson Jobe just a few days after his major league debut. Why? Because Jobe is on the list, and if you’re on it, you’re on it.

Jobe showed some nerves by hitting the first batter he faced, then giving up a single. He wasn’t hit hard, but the Astros loaded the bases and then scored on a grounder to first base, which Spencer Torkelson scooped and misfired at the plate. Moments later, Jose Altuve hit an errant sacrifice fly to right, and Houston had its first lead of the series, 2-1. The Astros had won 47 straight playoff games in the postseason for the eighth straight year when they led in the eighth inning or later.

A disaster, right? Ha. Your first day watching the Tigers?

They immediately loaded the bases in the eighth and scored on a wild pitch. Hader came in to close out the ball, but Hinch still had an ace to play. He pinch-hit Ibanez for Zach McKinstry, who already had a hit, because that’s what the plan called for. Ibanez, a right-handed hitter, is one of baseball’s best in these situations, hitting .292 with an .802 OPS against lefties. After a 1-2 count, as the Minute Maid Park crowd of 40,824 roared, he fired the ball down the left field line to clear the bases.

The Tigers erupted, from the dugout to the bullpen, not because they were surprised, but because they were ecstatic.

“We know we’re never going to get out of it,” said Torkelson, who walked Hader to load the bases. “And Andy Ibanez, wow. Incredible. Death, taxes and Andy Ibanez getting a lefty, that’s what he’s all about.”

Ibanez paced the dugout from the second inning on, knowing he could be called upon at any time. He had struggled in September, but that was a different month and a different season. Hinch knows October baseball well, having led the Astros to the 2017 World Series championship before being fired and landing in Detroit.

She not him

Hinch isn’t making it about him because that would contradict the Tigers’ mentality. It’s about all of them, which is why Ibanez was sent out for the biggest at-bat in recent Tigers history.

“He was locked up, and for those not on our team, that’s not by accident,” Hinch said. “He’s literally standing with his helmet on the rail and he doesn’t even know if we’re going to get to his spot to hit. I love that child. I love how prepared he is, and I love that he mentally stayed in the mindset that he was going to get big at-bats.

It’s easier for players to keep their heads in the game, knowing that Hinch will almost certainly put them in at some point. So it’s not surprising if Brieske goes in and does the work for the second game in a row. It’s no surprise when lefty Sean Guenther replaces Jobe in the seventh to close it out, and it’s no surprise when Will Vest finishes the ninth.

“I think everyone has bought into that mentality, you can see how the guys are picking each other up,” said Brieske, who has had his fastball soar above 100 mph this series. “There is absolutely no stopping. It feels like we’ve been playing playoff baseball for the past two months. We don’t have much experience yet, but we are starting to gain it. We play with confidence, play freely and have fun.”

It could be anyone on any given day, making a team unpredictable and unflappable. No star is needed to lead, so the Tigers spread the pressure and the chores. My goodness, their starting rotation is actually: Skubal, TBD, TBD, TBD, TBA, repeat.

If there’s a secret sauce to this unprecedented, unorthodox run, it’s that.

“The buy-in is not free,” Hinch said. “You have to make sure players understand the bigger goal. You have to make players understand how we are going to maximize their strengths. You have to have players who give up something so that someone else gets a chance. If you can change the psyche and maybe take out the pride and ego, anything is possible.”

Perhaps for the first time since this crazy run began, everything really seems possible. The Tigers’ unpredictable manner may irritate others in baseball, with many watching in disbelief. Back in Detroit, where Comerica Park will come back to life next week, it’s getting easier to see.

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@bobwojnowski