HOUSTON -- Parker Meadows’ blazing speed helped the Tigers get to the postseason. On Tuesday, his legs helped keep their second postseason inning alive, setting up a three-run, two-out rally off Astros starter Framber Valdez and an early statement from the young Detroiters in a 3-1 win -- the first postseason game for all of them except Matt Vierling.

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Valdez battled command early, walking two of Detroit’s first six hitters and allowing a Wenceel Pérez single. But Meadows’ ground ball to second seemingly had him out of it with a potential double play. Meadows, knowing the situation, bolted down the line to thwart it, topping out at an elite sprint speed of 30.3 feet per second to beat shortstop Jeremy Peña’s throw to first.

That extended the inning for Jake Rogers, the last remaining piece of the Tigers’ 2017 trade of Justin Verlander to Houston and Valdez’s former catcher at Single-A Quad Cities, who put a 3-0 pitch in play for just the second time this season and was rewarded with an RBI single through the middle. Meadows sped around third on Trey Sweeney’s ensuing line drive to center, easily beating Jake Meyers’ throw home.

Rogers, following the Tigers’ pattern of aggressive baserunning, took third base on the throw, setting up Vierling’s RBI single.

The second inning marked the Tigers’ first lead since their win over the White Sox last Friday to clinch their first postseason berth since 2014. It also marked more runs off Valdez than the Tigers had posted in their previous two meetings combined, covering 14 innings of two-run ball.