Houston Astros vs. Detroit Tigers bold predictions for 2024 AL Wild Card
Today at 02:58 PM
The MLB playoffs are here and the Detroit Tigers and Houston Astros will get it all started on Tuesday afternoon at 2:30 ET/1:30 CT. Both of these teams are coming into this series in very different boats as the Astros have made the ALCS seven straight years, and the Tigers are making their first playoff appearance since 2014. This is going to be a fun series, and there are a lot of good storylines surrounding it.
First of all, Tigers manager AJ Hinch was the manager of the Astros before coming to Detroit, and he helped lead the organization to a World Series title in 2017. However, a scandal broke out involving Hinch and that World Series Astros team. The scandal was regarding Houston stealing signs of opposing teams.
Now, Hinch is with the Tigers, and he has the team back in the postseason for the first time in 10 years. Detroit looked dead in the water not too long ago as they were 55-63 on August 10th. Things changed very quickly.
The Tigers had a 0.2% chance to make that playoffs back in August when they were eight games below .500, but they went 31-13 to close the season, earning them a Wild Card spot.
Houston is coming into this series as the favorite as they won their division, and they will be hosting all three games in the series. Buckle up folks, this is going to be fun. Here are three predictions for the series:
Tarik Skubal will strikeout eight in a game one win
The best pitcher in baseball will get the start on the rubber in game for the Tigers as Tarik Skubal will be going up against Framber Valdez. Skubal is the favorite to win the Cy Young, and he won the American League triple crown with the most wins, strikeouts and best ERA. Skubal has an 18-4 record this year, a 2.39 ERA and 228 strikeouts. He is going to add more to that strikeout tally in game one, and he is going to pitch Detroit to a 1-0 series lead.
Spencer Torkelson will hit a game three home run
This series is going to go to three games as the Tigers will take game one behind a masterful performance from Tarik Skubal, and the Astros will even things up to force a winner take all game three. This is when Spencer Torkelson will step up for the Tigers. This has been an up and down year for Torkelson. He spent a lot of time in the minors after struggling for awhile, came back hot, and then cooled off again. He has stepped up in some big moments down the stretch, and he will do that again in this series.
The Tigers will win the series
The Tigers have been the hottest team in baseball since August 11th, but they are still the biggest underdogs in the playoffs in terms of World Series odds. The Astros are expected to win this series, but that’s the thing about baseball. Get hot at the right time, and it doesn’t matter what happened April-July. Just look at last year’s World Series matchup between the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks. The Tigers are hot at the right time, and they are going to end the Astros’ ALCS streak.
Game one between the Tigers and Astros is taking place on Tuesday afternoon from Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas. The game is airing on ABC, and first pitch is at 2:30 ET. Houston is the favorite in game one.
Game two will take place on Wednesday at 2:30 ET, and game three will take place Thursday at 2:30 ET. Both of those games will also be airing on ABC, and they will both be in Houston as well. Game three will not happen if the same team wins both games one and two.
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