2024 MLB Playoffs: Scrappy Tigers offense fights for comeback win in Game 2, wild card win over Astros

For 22-year-old Jackson Jobe, it was a particularly difficult task.

Sure, he's the top pitching prospect in baseball, with an electric arsenal that secured a spot on Detroit's wild-card roster. And sure, he was slated to start at the bottom of Houston's lineup, which seemed to lessen the demand for a rookie to record late-inning outs when the dismal Tigers pulled off a massive upset at Minute Maid Park.

But with just two major league appearances to his name — he finished with a six-run lead for the Rays in his debut and covered the middle inning of a contest against a historically bad White Sox team — Jobe had yet to learn what it means high leverage pitch at the highest level.

On Wednesday, four of Jobe's bullpen mates went blow-for-hitter with Astros right-hander Hunter Brown for five innings in an unconventional pitching duel between a traditional dynamite starter and a cavalry of relievers. But after Parker Meadows gave Detroit the lead with a solo home run in the sixth inning, the tone changed. Suddenly the countdown to 27 outs started; It was all about who manager AJ Hinch would call next.

With a one-run lead and nine outs left, it was Jobe's turn, called up from the bullpen to become the newest and greatest Tigers hurler and give manager AJ Hinch exactly what he was looking for. It wasn't the rookie righty's job to finish the game, but he was entrusted with keeping the outs rolling. Compared to his stakes in September, the stakes had increased exponentially.

Again: tough task.

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Jobe knocked out Victor Caratini with his first offer. Jeremy Peña followed with a single. Mauricio Dubon made a beautiful bunt.

In no time, the bases were loaded – without anyone outside. Welcome to October, boy.

Then massive pinch-hitter Jonathan Singleton stepped up to the plate. Singleton ripped a ground ball to right that was smothered by Detroit first baseman Spencer Torkelson, but Torkelson's throw home was mishandled by catcher Jake Rogers.

Drawn game. The bags are still packed. Still no one is outside. Jose Altuve is coming. Yikes.

On the first pitch, Altuve hit a shallow fly ball down the right field line, just deep enough for the speedy Peña to sprint home in time to hit a sac fly for the lead. 2-1 Astros. When Altuve retired, southpaw Sean Guenther replaced Jobe and promptly got Kyle Tucker to execute a double play to end the frame. Nevertheless, the lead was gone.

Outside of hit-by-pitch, Jobe made his throws, but the results just weren't right – such is the cruelty of this sport this time of year. For the first time in a long time, the Tigers' self-described “pitching chaos” had stalled. It was now up to Detroit's offense to respond.

With Bryan Abreu already pitching, Houston turned to veteran Ryan Pressly in the top of the eighth – hardly a bad decision on paper, considering his stellar postseason resume, which included a streak of 20 consecutive appearances in October, without a deserved run being possible on Wednesday. However, Pressly's dominance began to wane as the 35-year-old was merely good this season and was not one of the best substitutes in the sport. So Pressly's performance wasn't much of a challenge for the Tigers' aggressive offense, which has seemingly capitalized on every opportunity over the last month.

Right-hander Kerry Carpenter brought the ball up the middle with a single out, bringing some life to the ever-eager Tigers dugout. Vierling followed suit with a hard grounder over the right side that allowed Carpenter to advance to third. With Riley Greene hitting, Pressly uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Carpenter to run home and tie the game. Just like that, Detroit made it a brand new ballgame — and still had something cooking.

A strikeout by Greene and a walk to Colt Keith ended Pressly's day early. It was then up to Josh Hader to escape this escalating chaos – which is why Houston paid him big money.

But Hader only made things worse. A four-pitch walk to Spencer Torkelson sparked Houston's own bases-loaded crisis. When it was left-handed third baseman Zach McKinstry's turn, Hinch called on right-handed Andy Ibañez for a pinch hit. For all the bullpen buttons Hinch has hit right this year, his lineup configurations and bench usage have been similarly masterful, and Ibañez – extremely capable against southpaws – has been a crucial cog in such strategies.

Ibañez delivered. After fouling out three incredible warmups from Hader, Ibañez struck right down the middle at 98 miles per hour and shot the ball toward the left field corner for a bases-clearing double that gave Detroit a three- Gave a run lead.

As it turns out, fumbling late-inning leads in October isn't an activity reserved exclusively for beginners.

With that, the countdown to victory for Detroit was back on and Minute Maid Park was sufficiently stunned. Not another Astros batter reached base in the final two innings of Detroit's 5-2 win, while Guenther and Will Vest slammed the door on Houston's season and ensured that Detroit's magical run will last at least one more run.

The Tigers had lost 21 straight postseason games when they trailed in the eighth inning. The Astros had won 47 straight postseason games when they took the lead in the eighth inning. Both streaks ended on Wednesday.

It's fitting that such an unlikely outcome was needed to end one of the most remarkable winning streaks in sports: Houston's streak of seven consecutive appearances in the American League Championship Series. With an additional round coming up this October – unlike most of the Astros' recent playoff runs, which began in the ALDS – this postseason presented a unique challenge for an Astros team that had already beaten the odds by qualifying for qualified for the playoffs after a 7:19 start.

Perhaps more importantly, this unique challenge involved a unique opponent – a Tigers team that played with overflowing confidence and a firm belief in their style to kick things into high gear functions. Houston's ALCS streak had to end at some point and Detroit was more than happy to do the honors.

And so the Tigers take on the Guardians in the ALDS, with Game 1 scheduled for Saturday at 1 p.m. ET at Cleveland's Progressive Field. The narrative will shift to the remarkable collective successes of the AL Central, with another division opponent, Kansas City, also advancing to the ALDS against New York. The Astros must now regroup as they enter a crucial offseason much sooner than expected, with Alex Bregman's free agency looming and an entire winter of wondering why they came up short this season in particular.