The Detroit Tigers will play baseball in October for the first time in 10 years. The Tigers clinched an AL wild-card ticket after an impressive late push that concluded on Friday with a 4-1 win over the Chicago White Sox.
Back in early August, the Tigers were in the midst of another disappointing campaign, being eight games under .500 and 10 games behind the wild-card spot with just a 0.2% chance of getting in the playoffs. Since then, the team went through a remarkable turnaround that saw them go 31-11 and improve to an 86-74 record, enough to squeeze into the postseason with two games left to be played.
The Tigers have now become the first team to the 1973 Mets to make the postseason while being as much as eight games under .500 in August. That Mets team made it all the way to the World Series before losing to the Oakland A’s.
What makes Detroit’s feat even more impressive is that they have dealt with a number of injuries to their key players and relied on rookies and utility players for prolonged stretches.
“This team is pretty dangerous,” said Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris after the win over the White Sox. “We got a chance to make some noise in October, and we’re going to keep fighting for the opportunity.
