DETROIT – There are two ways the Detroit Tigers can clinch a playoff spot on Saturday.
Even though the Tigers blew a 3-0 lead and lost on a ninth-inning walk-off Friday night in Boston, they inched closer to a playoff spot when the Houston Astros lost to the Los Angeles Angels.
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Now, the Tigers’ magic number to clinch at least a wildcard spot is down to one, which means any win in the final two games -- or any loss by the Astros in their final two games -- would put the Tigers back in the postseason for a second year in a row.
So here are the two ways the Tigers can clinch on Saturday:
- If the Tigers beat the Red Sox (4:10 p.m. first pitch in Boston).
- If the Angels beat the Astros (9:38 p.m. first pitch in Los Angeles).
The Red Sox clinched their wildcard spot on Friday night with the win over the Tigers, so there’s a chance Detroit benefits from the lack of stakes for Boston over the next two games.
But the Angels aren’t playing for anything, either, so the same could be said for the Astros, in a sense.
The Tigers are also technically tied for the AL Central lead, though Cleveland owns the head-to-head tiebreaker. So the Tigers can’t win the division without some help from the eliminated Texas Rangers, who did rise up to beat the Guardians on Friday night.
If the Tigers lose on Saturday and the Astros win, the two teams will be tied heading into the final day of the season, and the Tigers will use Tarik Skubal to try to clinch at Fenway.
Since the Tigers won four of the six games against the Astros, they get into the playoffs if the two teams finish with identical records.