Bob Wojnowski: Unbreakable Tigers are all in, and anything's possible now

HOUSTON — The Tigers keep doing it their way, the only way they know, the most remarkable way possible. Call it chaos, character, clutch. Pick a description, pick a player, the Tigers use them all.

They just rolled into Houston and swept away a venerable playoff team, out with the old, in with the new. They did it by mixing and matching, and eventually mashing. From another drama-soaked game to another champagne-soaked clubhouse, the Tigers ousted the Astros and advanced to the ALDS.

They did it with the perfect player in the perfect spot, a reserve whose job is to deliver in the pinch. Sure enough, Andy Ibanez came though, slamming a two-out, bases-loaded double in the eighth inning to break a tie and give the Tigers a 5-2 victory over the Astros Wednesday and a 2-0 series win. He did it against one of baseball’s elite relievers, Josh Hader, who had signed a $95 million contract to win games like this.

The Tigers don’t care, as they prepare to host games Wednesday and Thursday in Detroit. They weren’t supposed to be in the playoffs, and weren’t supposed to beat the storied Astros. This was the postseason debut for every Tiger player except one, and they showed off their unconventional style. Their unpredictability has officially become predictable, and if they weren’t dangerous before, they certainly are now.

They head to Cleveland Saturday to open the best-of-five ALCS, and the way they’ve played the past two months, nothing seems insurmountable. Manager AJ Hinch keeps using his entire roster, shuttling guys off the bench and in from the bullpen, “pitching chaos” as he calls it.

The Tigers keep this up, they’re gonna have to stock up on champagne and beer. Oh, and plastic tarps to protect the lockers from the bubbly. While players jumped and yelled and sprayed each other indiscriminately after the game, Hinch stood to the side by himself, watching with a satisfied smile.

“It gets better and better, this never gets old,” he said. “This team is playoff tested now. I think we passed a pretty good test in this series. We got more games to play, but I love how we play to the end.”

It doesn’t really count as a surprise if it’s analyzed and calculated from the first pitch. The Tigers have one starting pitcher, Tarik Skubal, and a batch of “openers” who may enter at any time. Tyler Holton began this game and left after an inning for Brenan Hanifee, who left after two innings for Brant Hurter, who left after two innings for Beau Brieske.

'Never out of it'

It carried the Tigers to the seventh with a 1-0 lead, thanks to a Parker Meadows home run. In playoff baseball, the distance between delirium and disaster isn’t far, and the Tigers got a sobering dose of it. Hinch put rookie Jackson Jobe in, just a few days after the kid’s major league debut. Why? Well, because Jobe is on the roster, and if you’re on it, you’re in it.

Jobe showed some nerves, hitting the first batter he faced, then gave up a single. He wasn’t hit hard but the Astros loaded the bases, then scored on a grounder to first that Spencer Torkelson scooped and misfired to the plate. Moments later, Jose Altuve hit a foul sacrifice fly to right and Houston had its first lead of the series, 2-1. The Astros, in the postseason for the eighth consecutive year, had won 47 straight playoff games when leading in the eighth inning or later.

Disaster, right? Ha. Your first day watching the Tigers?

They immediately loaded the bases in the eighth and scored on a wild pitch. In came Hader to shut it down, but Hinch had another ace to play. He pinch-hit Ibanez for Zach McKinstry, who already had a hit, because that’s what the plan required. A right-handed batter, Ibanez is one of the best in baseball in these situations, hitting .292 with an .802 OPS against lefties. On a 1-2 count, with the Minute Maid Park crowd of 40,824 roaring, he sent the ball rocketing down the left-field line to clear the bases.

The Tigers erupted, from the dugout to the bullpen, not because they were surprised, but because they were ecstatic.

“We know we’re never out of it,” said Torkelson, who drew a walk off Hader to load the bases. “And Andy Ibanez, wow. Incredible. Death, taxes and Andy Ibanez getting a knock off a lefty, that’s what he’s all about.”

Ibanez was pacing in the dugout from the second inning on, knowing he could be called on at any time. He had struggled in September, but that was a different month and a different season. Hinch knows October baseball well, having managed the Astros to the 2017 World Series championship before getting fired and landing in Detroit.

Them not him

Hinch doesn’t make it about him because that would contradict the Tigers’ mentality. It’s about all of them, which is why Ibanez was sent to the plate for the biggest at-bat in recent Tigers history.

“He was locked in, and for those that aren't around our team, that's not by mistake,” Hinch said. “He’s literally on the rail with his helmet and he doesn't even know if we’re going to get to his spot to hit. I love that kid. I love how prepared he is, and I love that he stayed mentally in the mindset that he was going to get big at-bats.”

It’s easier for players to keep their heads in the game knowing Hinch almost certainly will put them in at some point. So it’s not startling when Brieske goes in for the second straight game and does the job. It’s not a surprise when lefty Sean Guenther replaces Jobe in the seventh and shuts it down, and it’s not a surprise when Will Vest finishes off the ninth.

“I think everyone has adopted that mentality, you can see the way the guys pick each other up,” said Brieske, who ramped his fastball over 100 mph this series. “There’s absolutely no quit. We feel like we’ve been playing playoff baseball for the past two months. We don’t have a lot of experience, but we’re starting to gain it. We’re playing with confidence, playing free, having fun.”

It can be anybody on any given day, and that’s how a team becomes unpredictable, and unflappable. No singular star is required to lead, so the Tigers spread the pressure and the chores. My goodness, their starting rotation is basically: Skubal, TBD, TBD, TBD, TBD, repeat.

If there’s a secret sauce to this unprecedented, unorthodox run, that’s it.

“Buy-in’s not for free,” Hinch said. “You've got to get players to understand the bigger goal. You've got to get players to understand how we're going to maximize their strengths. You've got to have players that will give up something in order for another person to have an opportunity. If you can switch the psyche and maybe take a tick of the pride and ego out of it, anything's possible.”

Maybe for the first time since this crazy run began, anything truly seems possible. The Tigers’ Unpredictable Way may vex others in baseball, and many watch with disbelieving eyes. Back in Detroit, where Comerica Park will be alive again next week, it’s getting easier and easier to see.