Andy Ibanez produced a pinch-hit, two-out, three-run double in the top of the eighth inning and the Detroit Tigers completed a stunning sweep of their American League wild-card series with a 5-2 comeback victory over the Houston Astros. in Game 2 on Wednesday.

With their two-game sweep, the Tigers advanced to the AL Division Series to face the Cleveland Guardians, with Game 1 scheduled for Saturday in Cleveland. Detroit finished 6-7 against the AL Central champions this season.

After Houston scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to secure a 2–1 lead, the Tigers mounted a response against Astros reliever Ryan Pressly. Kerry Carpenter and Matt Veirling delivered back-to-back singles with one out before Pressly (0-1) uncorked a wild pitch that gave Carpenter the tying run. Pressly left after walking with two outs to Colt Keith.

The Tigers kept the rally going against Astros closer Josh Hader, who walked Spencer Torkelson to load the bases. Ibanez, coming to bat for Zach McKinstry, hit a 1-2 line drive into the left corner to score Vierling, Keith and Torkelson and give Detroit a three-run lead.

Six pitchers followed Tigers opener Tyler Horton, with the first three – Brenan Hanifee, Brant Hurter and Beau Brieske – teaming with Horton to hold the Astros scoreless through six. Sean Guenther (1-0) and Will Vest worked the final two and two-thirds innings, with Vest notching the save with a perfect ninth.

“If you can change the psyche and maybe take a little bit of pride and ego out of it, anything is possible,” Tigers manager AJ Hinch said of his players wanting to play flexible roles. “You can make decisions that put guys in a position to be successful. Who knows what we’ll do.

“One of our things that we pride ourselves on is that we are unpredictable and our players accept that, which leads to success. If you have any success, you win a few series. You perform on the highest stage. That reinforces the belief that we will try to pursue all possible forces.”

Astros right-hander Hunter Brown was exceptional in his first postseason start. He retired the first five batters he faced and was ready to complete two perfect frames before Jose Altuve threw wide of first base on a routine grounder by Torkelson.

That error cost Brown seven additional pitches in the second and resulted in the first of his two hits allowed, with McKinstry pushing Torkelson to third with his double to left-center. Brown left both runners in scoring position and retired nine batters in a row, including four via strikeouts. Trey Sweeney ended that run with a two-out walk in the fifth. Brown responded by striking out Jake Rogers.

Brown had 83 pitches to his credit over five scoreless frames, but his 85th pitch ended his shutout bid. Detroit center fielder Parker Meadows set up an 0-1 fastball and drove it 370 feet from the foul pole in right field. That explosion gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead, and three batters later, Brown departed on a two-out walk by Riley Greene.

Brown worked five and two-thirds innings, allowing one run on two hits with two walks and nine strikeouts, the most by an Astros pitcher making his first postseason start since Mike Scott recorded fourteen in Game 1 of the 1986 National League Championship Series against the New York Mets.

The Astros had their streak of seven consecutive ALCS appearances snapped, dropping their seventh straight postseason game at Minute Maid Park.

“Yes, it’s a challenge,” Astros manager Joe Espada said of an opponent using a bullpen play. “We talked about it before the game started. So it creates challenges as a team because you get to see different arms, different angles, different things and different situations in the game. You could imagine guys in scoring position, with the bases empty.

“You have to adapt. We were one hit away from taking the series the last two days. But baseball, you tip your hat to them and you move on.

Kansas City Royals 2-1 Baltimore Orioles

Bobby Witt J belted an infield single to drive home the go-ahead run and send the Kansas City Royals to an AL Division Series win Wednesday with a 2-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles for a two-game sweep of their wild-card Series.

With two outs and runners on the corners in the sixth inning, Witt grounded to the edge of the sand behind second base, where Jordan Westburg made a diving stop and threw to first base. Witt was already there after zooming 30 meters in 4.14 seconds, allowing Kyle Isbel to score from third.

It was the second straight game in which the AL batting champion scored the decisive hit. Witt’s RBI single Tuesday in Game 1 accounted for the lone run in a 1-0 victory.

Kansas City, which suffered two seven-game losing streaks in the final month of the season, advances to face the AL East champion New York Yankees. Game 1 is Saturday in the Bronx.

Atlanta Braves 4-5 San Diego Padres

Kyle Higashioka’s solo home run sparked a five-run rally against Max Fried with two outs in the second inning, and the San Diego Padres held on to sweep the Atlanta Braves with a 5-4 victory in Game 2 of their NL wild card Series on Wednesday evening.

Manny Machado added a two-run double with the bases loaded and Jackson Merrill, a top candidate for NL Rookie of the Year, followed with a two-run triple as the sold-out crowd of 47,705 – the largest in Petco Park history – roared .

The Padres, eager to win a World Series title in memory of late owner Peter Seidler, will take to Interstate 5 to take on Shohei Ohtani and the NL West rival and top-seeded Los Angeles Dodgers in a National League Division Series starting Saturday evening. San Diego eliminated the Dodgers by 111 wins in a 2022 NLDS.

Fried and Padres starter Joe Musgrove left early with visible injuries. Fried left after the second inning. He was hit on the left hip by a ball from the bat of Fernando Tatis Jr., two batters into his appearance. Musgrove left with two outs in the fourth after throwing two slow curveballs to Matt Olson.

After the Padres took a 5-1 lead in the second, Jorge Soler hit a solo homer in the fifth and Michael Harris II had a two-run shot in the eighth.

New York vs. 3-5 Milwaukee Brewers

Jackson Chourio tied the game in the eighth with his second home run of the night and Garrett Mitchell delivered a two-run shot later in the inning to give the Milwaukee Brewers a 5-3 win over the New York Mets on Wednesday. their NL game was balanced. card series.

The teams will play a decisive Game 3 on Thursday night. The Brewers will try to become the first team to win a best-of-three wild-card series after losing the opener since MLB moved to this expanded playoff format in 2022.

Milwaukee trailed 3-2 when Chourio led off the eighth inning by homering to right-center off losing pitcher Phil Maton, making his fourth appearance on the mound in five days. The 20-year-old rookie also led off the bottom of the first inning with a drive to right, becoming the youngest player to hit a leadoff homer in the postseason.

After Blake Perkins singled and William Contreras grounded into a double play, Willy Adames kept the eighth inning alive with a single. Mitchell then sent a curveball on the first pitch just over the right-center wall, a 370-foot shot that sent the American Family Field crowd into a frenzy.

Devin Williams retired the side in the ninth to earn the save. Joe Ross got the win after throwing 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.