Tigers News: AJ Hinch ejection, Tarik Skubal history, Astros preview

It took quite a while for Detroit Tigers manager AJ Hinch to get his first ejection of 2024 – the entire season, to be exact.

In the final inning of Sunday's game against the Chicago White Sox, which also happened to be the final inning of Detroit's regular season, Hinch came out of the dugout to argue that Zack McKinstry's pinch-hit line drive appeared to come in contact with the right field wall while White Sox outfielder Dominic Fletcher was bobbling it.

Hinch's decision to do so after being instructed by umpires to stay in the dugout earned him an automatic ejection. He said after the game that he understood the umps sending him to the showers but believed it to be an "injustice" that McKinstry was robbed of a clear hit. The Tigers went on to lose the game by a final score of 9-5.

"Who knows how that inning goes," Hinch said (via Jared Ramsey of the Detroit Free Press). "But defending our team, defending Z-Mac, that was easy." Good energy before the playoffs, we'd say.

Tigers' Tarik Skubal makes history by winning AL Pitching Triple Crown

Tigers staff ace Tarik Skubal has long been the favorite to win the American League Cy Young Award, and he has the season stats to back it up. The right-hander officially ended the 2024 campaign with the most wins (18), most strikeouts (228) and lowest ERA (2.39) of any qualified AL pitcher.

As noted by Sarah Langs of MLB.com, Skubal joins Hal Newhouser and Justin Verlander as the only pitchers in Tigers franchise history to win the pitching Triple Crown. Newhouser accomplished the feat in 1945, while Verlander did it in 2011; both went on to win an MVP the same year.

Skubal did not make his last scheduled start of the regular season, as the Tigers had already punched their ticket to the postseason and preferred to save him to pitch in Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series.

AL Wild Card Series: Tigers vs. Astros Preview

Speaking of the AL Wild Card Series, Detroit will take on the Houston Astros in the best-of-three matchup beginning Tuesday at Minute Maid Park. The series will pit Hinch against his former team, a franchise he won a World Series with in 2017 before being fired and subsequently suspended following Houston's now-infamous sign-stealing scandal.

The matchup will also see Verlander, now with the Astros, go head-to-head against his former team. While the Tigers will give the starting nod to Skubal in Game 1, Houston will turn to southpaw Framber Valdez. The winner of the series will move on to face the Cleveland Guardians in a best-of-five ALDS beginning Saturday in Cleveland.

Stay tuned for official rotation/roster reveals within the next day. Playoff baseball is soon to descend upon Detroit!

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