Detroit Tigers clinch 2024 playoffs with win over White Sox

It would have been an improbable sentence to write in early August but the Detroit Tigers are in the playoffs for the first time in a decade after beating the Chicago White Sox 4-1 at a packed Comerica Park on Friday.

The Tigers took the lead in a rather unconventional way: with a bases-loaded wild pitch to score Jake Rogers and a sacrifice fly from Matt Vierling to drive in Parker Meadows to take a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the 5th. White Sox right fielder Zach DeLoach hit a solo home run in the top of the 6th.

Riley Greene doubled off the center field wall in the bottom of the 7th to drive in Andy Ibáñez and a second wild pitch bounced off the plate and went over the backstop netting to score Vierling. And suddenly, this game was virtually over as the bullpen held the Sox scoreless through the end.

The bullpen shut down the Sox – clinching the Tigers' first playoff appearance since 2014. A sell-out crowd of 44,435 erupted as the Tigers punched their ticket with closer Jason Foley coming in for the final out – a pop fly to Wenceel Pérez in right center. 

On the 25th anniversary of the final game at old Tigers Stadium, these new Tigers had the resilience of a true Detroit team. They wouldn't quit. 

Donning shirts that read "October Ready", these Tigers are definitely October Ready but they can't turn their attention to the playoffs yet. They're still battling with the Kansas City Royals for the second Wild Card spot. 

The Tigers' magical run

On August 12, the Tigers were 56-63 – a full seven games under .500 – and nine games back of the final Wild Card berth. But what happened next was nothing short of a straight-from-Hollywood movie script.

In their turnaround, the Tigers have become completely averse to losing as they went 30-11 over the next six weeks to claw their way back into the playoffs.

In September alone, the Tigers have only lost six games, guaranteeing them to have fewer than 10 losses in a month. At this point, it's not about if they will make the playoffs but who they will play. 

They did it, in large part, because of Tarik Skubal, who went 18-4 with a 2.39 ERA. He's the favorite to win the American League Cy Young Award and would be the first Tiger since Max Scherzer in 2013 to win the award. 

Over the past six weeks, the Tigers have beaten teams they're supposed to (the White Sox, the Los Angeles Angels, and the Oakland Athletics) but they also beat playoff teams, (the New York Yankees, Royals, and Baltimore Orioles). All of this is culminating in a playoff berth that this city desperately wants. 

How the Tigers made the MLB playoffs

On July 30 – the MLB trade deadline – the Tigers were sellers. They shipped pitcher Jack Flaherty to the Los Angeles Dodgers, veteran outfielder Mark Canha went to the San Francisco Giants, while reliever Andrew Chafin and catcher Carson Kelly were both sent to the Texas Rangers.

Somehow, the Tigers got better. Call it addition by subtraction. 

That day, the Tigers were in the middle of a five-game slide and got shut out by the Cleveland Guardians at home. The Tigers were 52-57 so selling those players seemed to make sense.

As the Tigers were accelerating in the win column, the Minnesota Twins and Royals both went on long skids. On Sept. 23, the Tigers bypassed the Twins. At the time, the Tigers had won 11 of 14 while the Twins dropped 11 of 17. The Royals, meanwhile, nosedived as well with a 7-16 record since Aug. 28.

Manager AJ Hinch certainly has to be in line for manager of the year for the masterful job he has done, especially down the stretch. 

Who will the Tigers face in the playoffs?

Now the question is who the Tigers will play. As it stands right now, the Tigers will face the Houston Astros. The winner of that three-game series will challenge the American League Central Champion Guardians.

Entering Friday, the Tigers and Royals were tied in the win-loss record, but Kansas City has the tiebreaker after winning 7 of 13 games between the two teams.

That means the Royals hold the No. 5 seed while the Tigers are in the sixth spot – the final Wild Card seed. The Tigers can't catch the Orioles, but they can pass the Royals. If they do that in this final weekend, they'll play the Orioles in the other half of the playoff bracket with the winner going on to play the American League East Champion Yankees. 

How to get Tigers playoff tickets

The moment we've all been waiting for. The Tigers are in the playoffs and you want tickets!

But they're not available yet and here's why: MLB Wild Card round games are all played at the higher seed's home field.

That means the Tigers will have to win 2 of 3 games in either Houston or Baltimore to get a ticket to the ALDS – thus making it possible to buy tickets.

Will the Tigers face Justin Verlander?

Before Tigers fans map out a Matthew Stafford-style playoff rematch with former ace Justin Verlander – the odds aren't in your favor. The future Hall of Famer is unlikely to pitch in the three-game Wild Card round. Verlander stands as fourth in the Houston rotation and would be held for the ALDS.

However, there is a path to a Tigers-Verlander matchup. If the Tigers vault past the Royals for the No. 5 seed and then beat the Orioles, they would face the Yankees in the ALDS. The Tigers would need Houston to win the other Wild Card round AND beat the Guardians in the ALDS.

If both the Tigers and the Astros win their respective ALDS games, they will  face off in the American League Championship Series. In that series, if it were to happen, could we possibly see a Tigers-Verlander game.

Not only that, depending on how rotations and games are played out, that could be game four of the series, which would take place in Detroit.

Imagine how much those tickets will go for?

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.