Since mid-August, the Detroit Tigers have become a surprise entry into the American League playoff sweepstakes.
The Tigers will continue their postseason pursuit on Tuesday in the middle game of a three-game series against the host Kansas City Royals.
After a 3-1 loss in San Francisco on Aug. 10, Detroit was eight games below .500.
In past five-plus weeks since then, the Tigers rebounded with a major-league-best 23-10 record. Their pitchers have compiled a league-best 2.57 ERA in that span while their hitters have averaged 4.73 runs per game.
Detroit (78-73) has climbed within 1 1/2 games of the Minnesota Twins (79-71) in the chase for the final AL wild-card spot.
“These guys are good,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said of the Tigers. “That’s part of the reason they’ve climbed back into this. Their pitching’s been elite. Their bullpen’s been good.”
Tigers manager A.J. Hinch is working to keep his players’ composure steady during the stretch run.
“We know the stakes are high,” he said. “I try to shield that as much as I can from a young team, but the reality is, we know what’s going on.”
Tigers players admit to scoreboard watching.
“I looked, like, 50 times,” said Colt Keith, whose two-run homer helped spark Detroit’s 7-6 come-from-behind win on Monday in the series opener. “I saw it was 4-3 (Minnesota trailing), and at that point we were making a comeback, so it was a pretty good feeling.”
The Royals (82-69) are also a surprising playoff contender after losing 106 games the previous year.
An aggressive offseason pitching staff rebuild paid dividends.
“The starting pitching, that’s where it all starts,” Royals general manager J.J. Picollo said. “Win or lose, we’re in every single game.”
An MVP-contender season from Bobby Witt Jr. and a rebound by Salvador Perez have helped, too.
“It’s a combination of things,” Picollo said. “It’s a fairly complete team that believes in each other. When you gain confidence in guys around you, pulling on the same rope, you can do special things together.”
Kansas City has been especially good at home. After going 33-48 at home in 2023, the Royals are 45-31 at Kauffman Stadium this year, one fewer home win than the AL Central-leading Cleveland Guardians have.
“Our team is put together to take advantage of the bigger ballpark,” Quatraro said. “Speed, versatility, defense, pitching plays in this ballpark really well.”
Despite Kansas City’s four-game advantage over Detroit in the wild-card race, Quatraro cautioned against becoming complacent.
“I never take it for granted,” Quatraro said. “We’ve done some good things to get to this point we’re in. It’s fun to be in a playoff race, absolutely. We appreciate playing in meaningful games.”
“We just need to play good baseball,” Picollo said. “I think every player knows where we’re at. We control our destiny. If we do what we’re supposed to do, we’ll be where we want to be at the end of the year.”
Right-hander Casey Mize (2-6, 4.47 ERA) takes the mound for Detroit on Tuesday, opposing left-hander Cole Ragans (11-9, 3.32).
Mize is 2-2 with a 5.65 ERA in nine career starts against the Royals. He has faced Kansas City twice this year, allowing three runs (two earned) on six hits in five innings on April 27, then yielding six runs on nine hits while recording just five outs on May 21.
In four outings — three starts — against Detroit, Ragans is 2-1 with a 2.89 ERA. This year, he is 2-0 with a 1.54 ERA vs. the Tigers. On May 22, he struck out a career-high 12 while throwing six scoreless innings of one-hit ball in an 8-3 victory. Ragans topped the Tigers 9-2 on Aug. 2 after tossing 5 2/3 innings of two-run ball.
–Field Level Media