Riding the wave of an improbable September surge that secured the franchise’s first postseason berth in a decade, the Detroit Tigers scored another memorable victory on Tuesday, with a 3-1 victory over the Houston Astros in Game 1 of the American League Wild Card Series. .

The Tigers, with a roster full of rookies who barely knew what it meant to be playing at this point in the calendar, appeared to be substantial underdogs when they arrived in Houston to face a team that has become synonymous with baseball in the postseason. But in this laughably lopsided matchup in terms of experience in October, top left-hander Tarik Skubal proved to be the ultimate equalizer for Detroit.

Houston’s roster not only had more playoff experience — the Astros’ wild-card roster includes a whopping 581 combined career postseason games, compared to just 12 in Detroit’s — but also a far more compelling collection of statistical highlights on both sides of the ball. . On paper, the Astros had almost all the advantages, with one notable exception: Skubal. And so it was up to the 27-year-old southpaw to deliver the goods in his first career playoff start.

And he did. Skubal sliced ​​and diced through some of the best bats in the AL with exceptional command of his jaw-dropping four-pitch mix, single-handedly taking Detroit to the finish line of victory with each passing frame.

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