The Tigers may not be looking to beat their opponents in October, but they have found ways to score consistently during their stunning rise to the postseason, and that continued early in Game 1. RBI singles from Jake Rogers, Trey Sweeney and Matt Vierling put Detroit on the line for an early 3-0 lead – a lead that feels much bigger with Tarik Skubal on the mound.

The Astros finally made Skubal sweat in the top of the fourth, forcing him to throw 29 pitches to five batters, but Houston couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity as Skubal retired Jeremy Peña and Victor Caratini with runners on first and second base.

With Skubal at 62 pitches through four innings, it will be interesting to see how long Detroit is willing to continue riding its ace with a scheduled bullpen day looming in Game 2 tomorrow. Skubal has eclipsed 100 pitches just four times this season, with a season-high 103 pitches during his last regular season start on September 24. Don’t be surprised if the big southpaw gets to a similar number of pitches by the end of this outing.