Astros looking to keep season alive in Wild Card Game 2 vs. Tigers

On Wednesday, the Houston Astros will be playing for their lives against the Detroit Tigers in Game 2 of the MLB Wild Card.

The ‘Stros have no room for error, as a late comeback came up short in a 3-1 loss to Detroit in the opening game of the series. In that defeat, the Tigers scored all three of their runs off of two-out singles in the second inning. The Astros didn’t get on the scoreboard until the bottom of the ninth, and their magic ran out with the bases loaded.

• Astros drop Game 1 of Wild Card vs. Tigers after strong outing from Skubal

Game 1 was a story of two starting pitchers. On Houston’s side, Framber Valdez’s outing was completely soured by his four-hit, three-run meltdown in the second inning. For Detroit, Tarik Skubal put up an absolute show through six innings. The frontrunner for the AL Cy Young surrendered four hits across 6.0 innings, and never allowed a baserunner to advance past second. His command kept the Astros’ bats from creating any sort of momentum, and by the time they finally woke up against Detroit’s relief pitchers, the damage was done.

There’s still plenty of room for optimism for Houston, though. For Game 2 the Astros will have Hunter Brown (11-9) on the mound, a Detroit-native who has had a solid 2024 campaign. Detroit’s starting situation is less structured, as they’ll be playing a bullpen game with reliever Tyler Holton getting the start.

• Secrets of the Houston Astros’ winning sinker with Hunter Brown

First pitch for Game 2 is slated for 1:30 p.m. at Minute Maid Park.