DETROIT – The Detroit Tigers are the last undefeated team in Major League Baseball.
Heading into Wednesday’s slate, the Milwaukee Brewers and Pittsburgh Pirates were both members of Club Unbeaten. But the Brewers squandered a 3-0 lead against the Twins and the Pirates fell to the Nationals, leaving the Tigers alone atop the league.
This isn’t what anybody expected, but thanks to some excellent pitching, a favorable schedule, and quite a bit of rain, nobody’s got it better than Detroit.
Only 158 more to go.
The Tigers are widely expected to improve this season, and maybe even flirt with a winning record for the first time since 2016. But few outside of Michigan expect this team to be a real playoff threat.
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After dominating AL Central foes to the tune of a 35-17 record last year, the Tigers picked up right where they left off in the opening series, sweeping the White Sox in Chicago. All three games were decided by one run.
Then, the Tigers went to New York to battle the winless Mets, and after nine innings of scoreless baseball, they exploded for five runs in the top of the 10th to remain unbeaten.
Thanks to some heavy and persistent rainfall in New York, the second and third games of the series were postponed. The teams are scheduled to play a makeup doubleheader on Thursday.
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We all know the Tigers aren’t going to compete with the likes of the Dodgers, Braves, and Orioles this season, but this early season success has been fun.
The schedule isn’t going to get much tougher, either, as the Tigers head home this weekend to host the 1-6 Oakland Athletics.
Who knows how long this will last, but Tigers fans have waited a long time for some exciting baseball. So far, so good.