DETROIT – After losing 6-1 to the Guardians on Wednesday, the Tigers’ season will either end today, or they will move on to the American League Division Series to face the red-hot Seattle Mariners.
Jack Flaherty (8-15, 4.64 ERA) takes the mound at 3 PM ET vs. Slade Cecconi (7-7, 4.30 ERA).
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Between games one and two, the Tigers scored a total of three runs, went 2-for-23 with runners in scoring position, and stranded 21 runners.
The key to winning the series is scoring runs. The key to scoring runs is hitting with runners in scoring position and running the bases well.
Since the postseason format changed in 2022, 17 Wild Card series have ended in a sweep, and every team that has won game one has gone on to win the series.
The Tigers surprised everyone and swept the Houston Astros in the 2024 Wild Card series to advance to the ALDS, where they would later lose to the Guardians in five games.
Over the offseason, the Tigers acquired starting pitcher Jack Flaherty, second baseman Gleyber Torres, outfielder Manuel Margot, starting pitcher Alex Cobb, and pitchers Tommy Kahnle, John Brebbia, and Jose Urquidy.
Flaherty, Torres, and Kahnle stayed on the active roster all season.
Margot was released on July 8, Cobb got injured in spring training and spent most of the season on the IL outside of a few rehab assignments with the High-A Whitecaps and the Triple-A Mudhens, Urquidy spent most of the season on the IL and pitched 2.1 innings for the Tigers, posting a 7.71 ERA, and Brebbia posted a 7.71 ERA in 23.1 innings, later released on June 19.
If the Tigers don’t make the ALCS this year, will the season be considered a failure?