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    • The Detroit Tigers’ epic run into the AL playoffs is unique
    Albany

    The Detroit Tigers’ epic run into the AL playoffs is unique

    Madoc Meredith Posted on

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    The Detroit Tigers were sellers at the trade deadline, parting ways with veterans Jack Flaherty, Andrew Chafin and Mark Canha. After Aug. 10, the Tigers were eight games under .500 and 10 games back in the wild-card race, with a 0.2% chance of making the playoffs, according to Fangraphs.

    Less than 50 days later, the Tigers are headed to the postseason for the first time since 2014.

    The Tigers needed a three-game win against the Chicago White Sox to clinch a wild-card spot in the American League. They wasted no time winning the series opener 4-1 on Friday to advance past the regular season.

    The regular season ends on Sunday.

    “We feel really good about the way we do it, not just what we do,” manager AJ Hinch said before Friday’s game. “We have put a lot of work into playing as consistently as possible and showing it every day. The DNA, the personality of this club is something very special. We don’t think about it much. We really just came to play and win.” . We’ve been doing a lot of this lately and hope to do more.

    THE CLINCHER ON FRIDAY: Detroit Tigers go 4-1 to secure AL playoff spot; White Sox set MLB record with 121st L

    But the Tigers – in Hinch’s fourth year as coach – will open the postseason on Tuesday against either the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park or the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards. The opponent and venue of the three-game wildcard series will be determined by the seeding of the three wildcard teams, which may not be determined until Sunday evening.

    Tarik Skubal, the leading candidate to win the AL Cy Young Award, is expected to start Game 1 of the Wild Card Series. The southpaw has a 2.39 ERA with 228 strikeouts in 31 starts.

    JEFF SEIDEL: Magic for tigers? Sure, but manager AJ Hinch is the magician who casts a spell

    “That’s why you play the game, to pitch in the postseason and hopefully win the big game,” Skubal said before Thursday’s game. “That’s the most important thing in this game, and that’s the most important thing for me. Awards are important to you, but I want the World Series ring more than anything.”

    To get into the playoffs, the Tigers shut out the Jets with a record of 31-11 in 42 games since August 11th. At the same time, the Minnesota Twins posted a 12-24 record in 36 games since August 18, eliminating them from the playoff picture entirely.

    The Twins’ epic failure opened the door for the red-hot Tigers to catch up.

    In fact, the Tigers joined the New York Mets in 1973 and became the only teams to make the playoffs after finishing at least eight games under .500 in 115 games.

    ON THE HILL: How the Tigers’ pitching strategy of Scott Harris and AJ Hinch leads to wins

    Pitching was the biggest difference between the Tigers and Twins in their respective end-of-season trends. As of August 11, the Tigers lead the MLB with a 2.60 ERA. As of August 18, the Twins rank 25th in the MLB with a 4.65 ERA.

    What else helped the Tigers win? A star-studded pitching staff consisting of openers and bulk relievers despite having only two starters in the rotation for more than a month, the return of several position players from injuries, an increase in aggressiveness on the bases and a manager who won the World Series has and pushes all the right buttons to prepare players for success.

    “I’ve been making it like Game 7 for two months, that’s what it feels like,” Hinch said. “We want to win today’s game and we will use the guys who can help us win today’s game. “You’re going to see us play with the same brand that we played with that got us to this point.” … We have to play the nine innings and we have to try to win whatever the game requires.

    Entering Friday’s game, the Tigers had the youngest roster among the 30 MLB teams, with an average age of 26.3 years old. Only two players on the roster – outfielder Matt Vierling and right-hander Kenta Maeda – have postseason experience.

    The Tigers broke a nine-year losing streak – the longest active streak in MLB – to reach the postseason in 2024, the second year under president of baseball operations Scott Harris. The Tigers hired Harris on September 19, 2022 after firing general manager Al Avila.

    FOLLOW THE LEADER: Matt Vierling is the Young Tigers’ leader in the postseason race

    In their last postseason experience, the Tigers fell to the Orioles in three games in the 2014 AL Division Series despite starting Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander and David Price.

    The franchise has now reached the playoffs in 17 of its 125 seasons and won the World Series in 1935, 1945, 1968 and 1984. However, since the 1984 championship, the Tigers have only made the playoffs in seven of the last 40 seasons.

    While the seedings have yet to be determined, five of the six AL teams are locked into the postseason: New York Yankees (AL East), Cleveland Guardians (AL Central), Astros (AL West), Orioles (Wild Card) and Tigers (Wild card). Map). The Twins and Kansas City Royals are still in the running for the remaining wild card spot.

    Of those teams, the Tigers took the least likely path to the playoffs.

    The magical run continues.

    Contact or follow Evan Petzold at [email protected] @EvanPetzold.

    Listen to our weekly Tigers show, Days of Roar, on-demand every Monday afternoon on freep.com, Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And check out all of our podcasts and daily voice briefings at freep.com/podcasts.

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    Madoc Meredith
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