It’s All Happening: The Detroit Tigers Have Tied for an A.L. Wild Card Spot

Is this article a little premature? Sure. But have I waited nearly three months to type it? Yes. So I’m not losing the chance.

The Detroit Tigers defeated the Cleveland Guardians Thursday afternoon. Along with the win, the Tigers also won the series over Cleveland, marking their first series win against the Guardians since last year’s A.L. Wild Card round matchup.

So not only are Tigers fans jumping for joy because their team was finally able to slay the dragon that is the Guardians, but they also leaped in excitement because, with that win, the Tigers have finally clawed their way back to tie for the final Wild Card spot.

At 61-62 on the season, Detroit has also clawed back to get within just one game of .500 overall, but more importantly, sits in a tie with the Texas Rangers for the final Wild Card spot.

That may have seemed impossible after Detroit’s month of May, which saw them go 6-22. At one point in the season, Detroit sat 16 games under .500 and 11.5 games back from the Wild Card.

Then Detroit started winning.

And even when the front office tried to suck the life out of the team by trading away the top two pitchers in the rotation, the Tigers answered back with more intensity than ever.

Now, thanks to a huge series win, the Tigers are tied for the Wild Card.

Now, as aforementioned, this article is a little premature. I’m able to write this article to you today because the Tigers kicked off the Thursday slate of games with a 1:10 p.m. EST start time.

The two teams that could kick Detroit back to being the next team out of the playoffs would be the Texas Rangers, who are tied with the Tigers right now before their game, and the Minnesota Twins, who currently sit 0.5 games back from Detroit.

With a win, the Twins would not only put themselves in a tie with Detroit and possibly Texas, but they would actually leapfrog the Tigers.

Still, with 41 games remaining, knowing just how bad Detroit was looking in the early stages of the season, to be sitting here writing that the Tigers have officially tied for a Wild Card spot seems quite miraculous.

However, if you love Toy Story as much as me, you’ll remember in the first movie when Buzz is flying with Woody to the moving truck. They fly right over it, and Woody says, “Buzz, we missed the truck.”

Buzz replies, “We’re not aiming for the truck,” as they plop into the car with Andy, his mom and sister, reuniting the toys with their owner.

That scene is exactly what Detroit is trying to do with the playoffs.

Detroit is not looking for just the Wild Card.

Detroit is looking for the division.

With Detroit’s win coupled with the White Sox losing a close 9-8 game, the Tigers moved within 2.5 games of the White Sox for the division lead.

The Tigers will look to leapfrog the Wild Card as an entirety this weekend as they host the White Sox in a three-game series that could be division-defining.

The two teams have faced off twice so far, with both home teams sweeping the series. If Detroit continues that trend and wins all three games against the White Sox, Detroit would have a 0.5-game lead over the White Sox for the division lead.

That is also assuming Minnesota doesn’t sweep. If the Twins do sweep, they’d have the tiebreaker over Detroit for the division lead, assuming they also win Thursday and then all three games over the weekend.

Regardless, the Tigers, who were once buried by every person in the world, have arisen through the ashes, out of the dirt, and have reemerged to scare the daylights out of all of MLB.