Game Ones of the AL Wild-Card Round are in the Books

It’s the month of October, which, along with many other things, brings with it playoff baseball. The wild-card round kicked off on Tuesday, with all eight teams in action. On the American League side of things, there are two series. One is between the Detroit Tigers and the Houston Astros. The other is between the Kansas City Royals and Baltimore Orioles.

This first round is a best-of-three, which means all of Monday’s winners are one game away from advancement, while the losers need to fight for their lives in game two.

The Detroit Tigers Look to Get It Done

The wait has been long for Tigers fans, as the team’s last trip to the playoffs came in 2014, and their last playoff win in 2013. That clock is now reset, as Detroit came away with the 3-1 win over the Astros in game one of their series.

Detroit’s big win came on the arm of ace Tarik Skubal, who won the AL pitching Triple Crown this year, as he led the league in wins, ERA and strikeouts. Skubal allowed no runs and only four singles in his six innings pitched. The win marked the first of his postseason career and stamped him as one of Major League Baseball’s best.

Tarik Skubal brings the HEAT to get through 6 scoreless 😯 #Postseason pic.twitter.com/wYCFHnr2XE

— MLB (@MLB) October 1, 2024

On the other side was Astros left-hander Framber Valdez, who didn’t have quite the night that Skubal did. Through 4 1/3 innings, Valdez gave up three runs on seven hits and two walks. He struggled with his accuracy, as 18 of his first 35 pitches ended up as balls.

Still, the Astros looked as though they might win it at the end. In the ninth, with bases loaded, Jason Heyward hit what looked to be an absolute rocket. In that singular moment, the Astros had hope, but it was quickly dashed as Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson caught the ball for the final out.

Jason Heyward hit it on the screws, but THE TIGERS SURVIVE! pic.twitter.com/X1xZMEWUBk

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) October 1, 2024

The odds are in Detroit’s favor, as teams that have won game one in the wild-card round have gone on to win the series 14 out of 16 times. Game two starts Wednesday at 2:32 p.m.

Royal Flush

Kansas City, like Detroit, hadn’t experienced a playoff game in quite some time – in fact, not since their 2015 World Series victory. With new faces this time around, it was an opportunity to do something special. Fortunately for the Royals, the game ended up not requiring something special. In fact, all they needed was one run, as they held the Orioles scoreless in the 1-0 win.

That one run came on behalf of shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., who hit an RBI single. Witt being the one to get it done comes as no surprise, as he had a season to remember. The 24-year-old had 32 home runs, 31 steals and a .332 batting average this past season. For Witt, even though it’s the playoffs, everything was business as usual.

Witt had help from Royals pitcher Cole Ragans, who flustered the Orioles hitters through his six innings pitched. The standout performance of the night, however, came from the losing side.

Baltimore ace Corbin Burnes put on a masterclass with his eight innings pitched and one run allowed. On most other days, it would’ve been more than enough for the win, but not on Tuesday. The Orioles usually dynamic offense went dry, as their top-five hitters went 1-18 hitting.

Before the game, Burnes talked about what it meant to be the starter for game one.

It’s safe to say Burnes didn’t let that honor go to waste.

Up next for these two teams is a Wednesday faceoff with first pitch schedule for 4:38 p.m. Like for Detroit, history favors Kansas City, but Baltimore’s offense will have the chance to make up for their first game disappointment.

For all these teams, fates will be determined in the next few days, and the list of World Series contenders will shrink one-by-one.