Tigers mount epic comeback to advance to ALDS after big AJ Hinch miscalculation

Through five innings in Game 2 of the Tigers-Astros Wild Card series, Houston starter and Detroit native Hunter Brown had almost completely blanked his hometown team. Spencer Torkelson reached on an error and Zach McKinstry hit a double in the second, and Trey Sweeney walked in the fifth, but otherwise the Tigers had no baserunners to even work with.

Luckily, the Tigers bullpen was making good work of the Astros as well. AJ Hinch said it'd be chaos, and he lived up to that: Tyler Holton threw one inning, Brenan Hanifee threw 1 2/3, then Beau Brieske came up with one out in the fifth to keep the train rolling. It was 0-0 through five innings.

Parker Meadows finally found a crack in Brown's armor in the top of the sixth, when he hit a solo homer off the foul poul in right field to put the first run of the day on the board. Brieske handled the bottom of the sixth easily, and then Hinch went back to the bullpen again, this time to call out Jackson Jobe, baseball's top pitching prospect.

Jobe pitched four total major league innings over two games after he was called up on Sept. 24. Three of them were pitched against the White Sox in Detroit's penultimate game of the season, and they were nearly perfect, with Jobe giving up just one walk but no hits.

But this is the big time, and this game was a little too close to entrust it to a brand new rookie. Jobe hit Victor Caratini on his first pitch, and then horror ensued.

Tigers advance to ALDS with epic comeback after bad AJ Hinch move

With Caratini on first, Jeremy Peña and Mauricio Dubón both singled to load the bases. Jon Singleton, pinch-hitting for Chas McCormick, poked a changeup to Torkelson at first. Torkelson made a very nice diving play to grab it, and he flung it to Jake Rogers at home plate to get the force out at home. Good, right? One out, right?

Nope. Rogers couldn't secure it, and Caratini sailed in to tie the game for the Astros.

And it immediately got worse. Jose Altuve, a postseason scourge, hit a sac fly just deep enough into the outfield that it allowed Peña to score for the Astros to take the lead. Hinch had seen enough of Jobe after that, and replaced him with Sean Guenther to get the last two outs, which he did easily enough with a ground ball for a double play.

We were ready to castigate Hinch for his decision to go to Jobe. Although he definitely still deserves it, the Tigers' offense reminded us exactly why they ended up here in the first place. These guys are fighters.

With Ryan Pressly in from Houston's bullpen, Kerry Carpenter singled with one out, then Matt Vierling followed to put runners on the corners. With Riley Greene batting, a passed ball after a Yainer Diaz misplay allowed Carpenter to score. Tie game. And then the unthinkable happened.

Greene went down swinging, but Colt Keith walked to put a runner on first and second, which ended Pressly's day as the Astros went to Josh Hader, who walked Torkelson to load the bases. Andy Ibáñez, pinch hitting for McKinstry, got to a 1-2 count against Hader before hitting a hanging sinker on a line into left field. Torkelson, all the way from first, kept his head down and charged, splaying out across home plate before the ball could get there. Bases cleared, 5-2 Tigers.

And that's how it would end. The Tigers have won a playoff series and will move on to face the division-rival Cleveland Guardians. It's time to celebrate, Detroit fans. What a run it continues to be.