The first wild card round game kicks off Tuesday, October first at 2:30 PM EDT on ABC. Both team made impressive turnarounds to reach the post-season. The Astros stood 12-24 after games of May 8th, 8 1/2 games out of first place. They went 76-49 the rest of the way to win the AL West, the best record in baseball (.608). Note the Padres posted the same number of losses, but three fewer wins.

The offense went from a .256/.323/.408 line to a .263/.322/.421 line, more hits, more power. The opposition went from .262/.351/.422 to .222/.294/.368. So the improvement came much more on the pitching and defense side than the offense.

Meanwhile, the Tigers sat 55-63 on August 10th, then went on a 31-13 run, .705, the best in the majors. This was mostly a pitching heavy streak as well as the team hit .246/.314/.401 and allowed opponents a .208/.266/.322 slash line.

So this will be a matchup of two good pitching staffs. On top of that, the Tigers Manager, A.J. Hinch, knows a bit about the Astros organization, having found success with them before he took the fall for the pitch stealing scandal.

Nonetheless, I like the Astros. I will take an offense that includes Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker, Yordan Alvarez, and rising star Yanier Diaz. That’s a tough, seasoned group that can do a lot of damage. I’m not sure the Tigers pitchers will have enough to shut them down.