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

With their two-game win, 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 this season against the AL Central champions.

After Houston survived two runs in the bottom of the seventh to take a 2-1 lead, the Tigers responded against Astros reliever Ryan Pressly. Kerry Carpenter and Matt Veirling delivered back-to-back one-out singles before Pressly (0-1) unleashed a wild pitch that scored Carpenter with the tying run. Pressly retired Colt Keith after his two-out walk.

The Tigers continued their rally against Astros closer Josh Hader, who walked Spencer Torkelson to load the bases. Ibanez, hitting for Zach McKinstry, lined a 1-2 sinker into the left field corner to score Vierling, Keith and Torkelson and give Detroit a three-run lead.

Six pitchers followed Tyler Horton, the Tigers’ opener, with the first three – Brenan Hanifee, Brant Hurter and Beau Brieske – joining Horton in keeping the Astros scoreless until the sixth. Sean Guenther (1-0) and Will Vest worked the final two and two-thirds of the inning, with Vest recording the save with a perfect ninth hit.

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

“One of the things we pride ourselves on is that we are unpredictable and our players embrace it, which leads to success. If you’re successful, you’ll win a few series. They perform at the highest level. This strengthens our belief that we will try to strive to the best of our ability.”

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

That error cost Brown seven additional shots 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, sparking a string of nine consecutive batters, four of them by strikeouts. Trey Sweeney ended that run with a two-out walk in the fifth. Brown responded with a strikeout of Jake Rogers.

Brown had 83 pitches in five scoreless frames, but his 85th pitch ended his shutout bid. Detroit center fielder Parker Meadows spun an 0-1 fastball and sent it 358 feet past the right field foul pole. That blast gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead, and three batters later Brown retired on a two-out walk by Riley Greene.

Brown worked five and two-thirds innings and allowed 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 in Game 1 of the 1986 National League Championship Series against the New York Mets scored 14 points.

The Astros had their streak of seven straight ALCS appearances snapped and lost their seventh straight postseason game at Minute Maid Park.

“Yeah, it’s a challenge,” Astros manager Joe Espada said of facing an opponent that uses a bullpen game. “We talked about it before the game started. This creates challenges as a team because you see different weapons, different angles, different things and different game situations. They could come up with men in scoring position and the bases empty.

“You have to adapt. We were close with the series in the last two days. But in baseball, you take your hat off to them and move forward.”

Kansas City Royals 2-1 Baltimore Orioles

Bobby Witt J hit an infield single to lead off the go-ahead run and send the Kansas City Royals to an AL Division Series with a 2-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday and clinch their two-game wild card series.

With two outs and runners on the corners in the sixth inning, Witt hit a grounder to the edge of the dirt behind second base, where Jordan Westburg made a diving stop and threw to first base. Witt was already there, having reached 90 feet in 4.14 seconds, allowing Kyle Isbel to score from third place.

It was the second game in a row in which the AL batting champions scored the game-winning goal. Witt’s RBI single Tuesday in Game 1 scored the only run in a 1-0 win.

Kansas City, which suffered two losses in seven games in the final month of the season, faces the AL East champion New York Yankees. Game 1 takes place on Saturday in the Bronx.

Atlanta Braves 4-5 San Diego Padres

Kyle Higashioka’s solo home run started a five-run rally against Max Fried with two outs in the second inning, and the San Diego Padres defeated the Atlanta Braves with a 5-4 victory in Game 2 of their NL Wild Card Series Wednesday night.

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

The Padres, who would like to win a World Series title in memory of late owner Peter Seidler, head to Interstate 5 for a National League Division Series against Shohei Ohtani and NL West rival and top-seeded Los Angeles beginning Saturday night Dodgers to compete. San Diego eliminated the Dodgers with 111 wins in a 2022 NLDS.

Fried and Padres starter Joe Musgrove left early with apparent injuries. Fried walked after the second inning. Two batters into his outing, he was hit in the left hip by a ball from Fernando Tatis Jr.’s bat. Musgrove left the game 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 home run in the fifth and Michael Harris II had a two-run pitch in the eighth.

New York Mets – Milwaukee Brewers 3-5

Jackson Chourio tied the game in the eighth with his second home run of the night and Garrett Mitchell delivered a two-run blast later in the inning that gave the Milwaukee Brewers a 5-3 victory over the New York Mets on Wednesday their NL Wild rating made up for the card series.

The teams will play the decisive Game 3 on Thursday evening. 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 was trailing 3-2 when Chourio took the lead in the eighth with a home run to right center off losing pitcher Phil Maton, making his fourth appearance on the mound in five days. The 20-year-old rookie also opened the bottom of the first inning with a drive to right, becoming the youngest player to hit a leadoff home run in the postseason.

After Blake Perkins hit a single and William Contreras hit a double play, Willy Adames kept the eighth inning alive with a single. Mitchell then sent a first-pitch curveball just over the wall in right-center, a 390-foot shot that sent the American Family Field crowd into a frenzy.

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