BOSTON – The Detroit Tigers are going back to the playoffs for the second year in a row, despite their recent struggles.
Detroit defeated Boston at Fenway Park on Saturday evening to lock up a spot in the postseason. The Tigers lost 11 of 12 games to cough up their 14-game lead in the AL Central earlier this week.
But they salvaged one game against Cleveland and held onto a 2-1 lead over the Red Sox on Saturday to back their way in, thanks to a recent losing streak by the Houston Astros.
Here’s the situation:
Why Tigers have clinched
The reason the Tigers are guaranteed to get into the postseason with Saturday night’s win: The worst they can do is finish in a tie with the Astros.
Since the Tigers won four of six meetings with the Astros this season, they would earn the wildcard spot if the two teams have the same record.
How Tigers can win division
Detroit entered Saturday in a tie with Cleveland atop the AL Central Division, but since Cleveland won the head-to-head season series, the Tigers are most likely to end up as a wildcard team.
But Saturday’s win over Boston gave the Tigers a half-game lead over the Guardians.
If the Guardians lose to the Rangers on Saturday night, the Tigers would enter the driver’s seat for the division.
If Cleveland wins both of its final two games against the Rangers, it will win the AL Central. But if the Guardians lose both — or if they lose once and the Tigers beat Boston on Sunday — the Tigers would win the AL Central.
Whoever wins the AL Central will get the No. 3 seed in the American League and host the third wildcard team in the best-of-three first round.
How Tigers can end up as second wildcard team
If the Tigers don’t win the AL Central, they will either finish as the second or third wildcard team.
A win over Boston on Sunday night would give the Tigers and Red Sox identical records to end the season. Since the Tigers won the season series, they would get the second wildcard spot and the No. 5 overall seed in the AL.
As the No. 5 seed, they would hit the road to play the top wildcard team in the best-of-three first round. That will either be the Yankees or Blue Jays — whichever doesn’t win the AL East.
Currently, the Yankees and Blue Jays are tied atop the division with one game remaining. The Blue Jays own the tiebreaker.
How Tigers can end up as third wildcard team
If the Tigers don’t win the division, and they also lose to Boston on Sunday, they will earn the No. 6 seed in the AL and head to Cleveland for a best-of-three.
Considering how the past two series against Cleveland have gone down the stretch, that’s not an ideal draw.
But hey, it looked like the Tigers were going to miss the postseason altogether, so they’ll take it.
The first game of the postseason will be Tuesday, Sept. 30. Detroit will pitch Tarik Skubal.
Copyright 2025 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit – All rights reserved.
Source link
