Royals blank Orioles; Tigers deck Astros

BALTIMORE — Bobby Witt Jr. made the most of his much-anticipated playoff debut, driving in the only run Tuesday to back Cole Ragans’ six sharp innings and help the Kansas City Royals return from a nine-year postseason absence with a 1-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles in Game 1 of their AL Wild Card Series.

Witt, the 24-year-old shortstop who led the majors with 211 hits and a .332 batting average this season, singled to left field off a 95 mph, first-pitch cutter from 2021 NL Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes with two outs in the sixth. Maikel Garcia came around to score after drawing a walk, stealing second — Burnes allowed runners to swipe a major league-high 41 bases this season — and moving to third on a groundout.

Just after Witt delivered, Kansas City Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes posted on social media: “Let’s go!! Keep it going!!! @Royals”

They couldn’t keep adding to their lead, but that didn’t matter, thanks to Ragans, who was every bit as good, if not better, than Burnes before leaving after 80 pitches because of cramping in his left calf, plus a bullpen that was KC’s weakness during the regular season but was more than fine Tuesday.

Sam Long, Kris Bubic and Lucas Erceg shut down the Orioles the rest of the way.

The Royals lost 106 games last season but a 30-win improvement has them back in October for the first time since winning the 2015 World Series.

Now they can end this best-of-three series and advance to an AL Division Series against the New York Yankees by winning Game 2 in Baltimore on Wednesday, when KC will send All-Star Seth Lugo to the mound. Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said he wouldn’t announce his starter until after Tuesday’s game, although it was expected to be Zach Elfin.

Baltimore has lost its last nine postseason games, a skid that dates to 2014.

Ragans, a lefty All-Star picked up in a trade with the Rangers last season, was terrific, mixing a 98 mph fastball with a variety of off-speed offerings while allowing just four hits and striking out eight.

Tigers 3, Astros 1

HOUSTON — Tarik Skubal added perhaps his most important accomplishment to an already sparkling resume.

The AL pitching Triple Crown winner gave the Detroit Tigers their first postseason victory in more than a decade with a sensational playoff debut in a 3-1 victory over the Houston Astros on Tuesday.

Skubal said this was the most nervous he’s been since his big league debut in 2020, but that he found a way to center himself.

“Breathe, execute pitches,” he said. “That’s all you can do when you’re out there. Once I got off the mound and fired my first pitch, I think all that stuff kind of goes away.”

Skubal, who had had 228 strikeouts to go with 18 wins and 2.39 ERA, allowed just four singles and one walk in six innings.

“Those guys swing early and often, put the ball in play,” he said. “You have to be relentless at throwing strikes and getting ahead. When you get behind, that’s when the damage starts happening.”

Detroit manager A.J. Hinch was asked what makes the 27-year-old so special — aside from his incredible gifts on the mound. He said his work ethic is unmatched.

Hinch shared that at first he couldn’t find Skubal in the clubhouse after the win and located the pitcher doing arm exercises with the training staff while the rest of the Tigers soaked in the victory.

“He’s all in,” Hinch said. “He will do anything. He’s intense, but he’s under control. He’s competitive, but he’s a thinking man’s pitcher. He’s got weapons. He’s the complete package of a guy that you want anchoring a staff. As he’s gotten more popular and more attention and more status within the game, he continues to work harder.”

Hinch said no one should be surprised that Skubal, the AL Cy Young Award favorite, shined on the big stage. He’s been doing it all season.

“We’ve seen a lot of these Tarik Skubal starts,” Hinch said. “This is not an outlier. This is why many people refer to him as one of the best pitchers on the planet.”

About the only hard hit by the Astros off Skubal was one that hit the pitcher — he was struck on his right wrist by Yainer Diaz’s second-inning comebacker.

He said he shook off catcher Jake Rogers before he threw that pitch.