The Detroit Tigers are rolling, and the race to the Wild Card is heating up. As of writing this, the Tigers beat the Rays for a second straight night winning, 7-1. Detroit moved 10 games over .500 with the win at 84-74.
Parker Meadows led off Wednesday night with an absolute rocket that landed in the right-field seats. Comerica was loud. Fans sold out the park on a Wednesday night, almost unheard of in Motown. Later in the 1st inning, Reily Green put the Tigers up with a line drive single to right center. The Tigers took the lead in the first inning and never looked back. Later in the 5th inning, Spencer Torkelson hit an absolute bomb to the left-center seats to extend the Tigers lead to 5-1. Then Dillion Dingler, later in the inning, hit a single to drive in two runs to put the game out of reach for the Rays.
Offense hasn’t been the only strong suit for the Gritty Tigs these past few months, so has pitching. Ace Tarik Skubal, the frontrunner for the Cy Young, has dominated, and the rest of the pitching staff has followed his lead and stepped up hugely. It’s not just starting pitching, however. The bullpen has been lights out. Day in and day out, you can count on the bullpen to shut down the opponent’s offensive production.
As stated above, Detroit moved 20 games above .500 with their fourth consecutive win last night. They are tied with KC for second place in the wild-card standings. Detroit has won 11 of its previous 14 games to leapfrog the Minnesota Twins for the final American League wild-card spot with six games remaining. It’s part of an exciting AL wild-card race that looked like an afterthought a few weeks ago.
The Kansas City Royals (82-74) and Tigers (82-74) would be the final two teams in the AL bracket if the season ended Thursday. The Twins (81-75) are one game back, while the Mariners (80-76) are two games behind. Six games are remaining for all four teams. The Twins have lost 11 of 17. The Royals have also nosedived, losing seven straight, including the past six at home. They have a 7-16 record since Aug. 28.
The Tigers will finish off their regular season this weekend in a series against the worst team in baseball, the Chicago White Sox. As of Thursday morning, the magic number for the Tigers is three; if they win the next three, they clinch a playoff spot. Detroit will be packed this weekend, and the Tigers are more fun to watch than ever. Expect a playoff atmosphere.
The Tigers are hot; they control their destiny in the playoff race. This is a sentence I wouldn’t believe if you told me 2 months ago. However, the young, Gritty Tigers are back, and they’re more dangerous than ever.
