Tarik Skubal, bullpen lead Tigers to 1st playoff victory in 11 years

Tarik Skubal kept up his stellar season with a sensational playoff debut and the Detroit Tigers got to Framber Valdez early in a 3-1 win over the Houston Astros in their AL Wild Card Series opener on Tuesday.

The Tigers, swept in the American League Division Series in their last trip to the playoffs in 2014, got their first postseason win since Game 4 the 2013 AL Championship Series against .

Down 3-0 entering the ninth, Houston scored on Yanier Diaz's RBI single and had the bases loaded when Jason Heyward hit a game-ending lineout against Beau Brieske.

It was a return to Houston for Detroit manager A.J. Hinch, who led Houston to a championship in 2017, and the last managed a postseason game in the Astros' loss in Game 7 of the 2019 World Series.

The following January he was suspended for a year by Major League Baseball and fired the same day for his role in Houston's sign-stealing scandal.

The Astros, in the postseason for a franchise-record eighth straight season, had won a MLB-record 10 consecutive postseason openers. They played their 98th postseason game since 2017.

Houston left three-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander off the roster for this series but did include injured slugger Yordan Alvarez.

Verlander struggled in his return after missing almost two months with a neck injury this summer. The 41-year-old right-hander went 2-2 with a 9.26 earned-run average in five starts in September.

Astros manager Joe Espada said Verlander was professional when told of the decision and said he could be on the roster for future rounds if the team advances. Verlander last pitched Saturday, allowing three runs in six innings against Cleveland.

Alvarez missed the end of the regular season with a right knee sprain and