Two teams who were preseason favorites and two who you never saw coming will meet in the best-of-three American League wild-card round beginning Tuesday afternoon.
The AL West champion Houston Astros, who have been to the American League Champion Series every year since 2017 will host the Detroit Tigers, who have not been to the playoffs since 2016, in one series. The Baltimore Orioles, the top wild-card team, will host the Kansas City Royals, coming off a 106-loss season in 2023, in the other opening-round series.
The winner of Houston/Detroit will meet the Cleveland Guardians, while the winner of Baltimore/Kansas City will meet the New York Yankees in the ALDS.
Here is a quick look at both series.
Detroit at Houston
Game 1, Tuesday, 2:30 p.m. (ABC)
Game 2, Wednesday, 2:30 p.m. (ABC)
Game 3 (if necessary), 2:30 p.m. (ABC)
Key Players
Detroit: SP Tarik Skubal (18-4, 2.39 ERA, 228 K in 192 IP), LF Riley Green (24 HR, 74RBI, .262 BA, 827 OPS), RF Kerry Carpenter (18 HR in 87 games, .284 BA, .932 OPS), CF Parker Meadows (.743 OPS)RP Jason Foley (28 saves in 32 chances).
Houston: SP Framber Valdez (15-7, 2.91 ERA), DH Yordan Alvarez (35 HR, .308 BA, .959 OPS), 2B Jose Altuve (.295 BA, 94 runs, 22 SB), 3B Alex Bregman (26 HR, 75 RBI), LF Kyle Tucker (23 HR, .993 OPS).
Overview: One of the major storylines is Tigers manager A.J. Hinch, who managed the Astros from 2015-19 before being fired after the team’s sign-stealing scandal. The Astros were 10 games out of first place in the AL West at one time before taking over the division in the second half. The Tigers also come in as a hot team. They were a dismal 55-63 Aug. 10 and then went 31-11 before losing the last two games of the season. Houston won the season series, 4-2.
Prediction: Astros in 3. Skubal, who led the AL in wins, ERA and Ks, could win Game 1. Then it’s all Astros.
Kansas City at Baltimore
Game 1, Tuesday, 4 p.m. (ESPN2)
Game 2, Wednesday, 4:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Game 3, Thursday, 4 p.m. (ESPN)
Key Players
Kansas City: SS Bobby Witt (.332 BA, 123 Runs, 32 HR), C Sal Perez (.271, 27 HR), 3B Maikal Garcia (37 of 39 SB), 1B Vinnie Pasquantino (19 HR, 97 RBI), SP Cole Ragens (11-9, 3.14 ERA, 223 K in 186 IP.
Baltimore: SS Gunner Henderson (.281 BA, 37 HR, 118 runs, .893 OPS), RF Anthony Santander (44 HR, 102 RBI), 2B Jordan Westburg (.264 BA, 18 HR, 63 RBI in 106 games), CF Cedric Mullins (32 SB, 18 HR), SP Corbin Burnes (15-9, 2.92 ERA, 194 K in 181 IP).
Overview: This series will showcase two of the bright, young stars in the game in Witt and Henderson. It’s not every year a team goes from 100 losses to the playoffs, somehow the Royals pulled it off. The Orioles battled the Yankees for the AL East title all season, but a late season slump knocked them into the top wild-card spot. The Orioles won the season series, 4-2.
Prediction: Baltimore in 2. The Orioles, after being knocked out of the playoffs early last year, might be on a mission. The Royals might be happy to be here.
