DETROIT – The slumping Detroit Tigers have clinched a wildcard spot and will travel to Cleveland to face the Guardians inside Progressive Field in the first round of the Major League Baseball playoffs.
The Tigers dropped 13 out of their previous 16 games while finishing 87-75 to cap off the once-promising regular season.
Cleveland won the American League Central Division largely due to five head-to-head wins over Detroit in six meetings during the final two weeks of the regular season.
Although the ending result was disappointing for the Tigers, who spent much of the season competing for the league’s top record, they’ve been in this spot before.
Despite recent struggles on the mound and at the plate, the Tigers are returning to the playoffs for the second consecutive year.
Detroit secured a postseason spot on Saturday, Sept. 27, by defeating the Boston Red Sox 2-1 at Fenway Park.
Prior to Sunday, the Tigers had lost 11 of 12 games, which caused them to lose their 14-game lead in the AL Central last week.
However, they managed to win one game against the Guardians and held a 2-1 lead over the Red Sox on Saturday, benefiting from the Houston Astros’ losing streak.
Although the Tigers did not win the division, this is not the first time they have lost a significant lead late in the regular season, as the 2006 World Series team experienced a similar collapse.
That year, Detroit lost its last five games and gave up the AL Central title to the Minnesota Twins, entering the playoffs as the AL Wild Card.
By early August 2006, the Tigers were 40 games above .500 at 76–36 and appeared to be cruising.
However, they lost their next five games and 16 of the following 22.
The final six weeks saw a sharp decline, with the offense struggling and the team going 19–31 in the last 50 games.
One major blow was the injury to Plácido Polanco, who separated his shoulder making a catch against the Red Sox on Aug. 15, 2006, inside Comerica Park.
Despite the slump, the Tigers clinched a playoff berth on Sept. 24 with an 11–4 win over the Kansas City Royals.
Even with a strong cushion built earlier in the season, the Tigers lost the division title on the final day.
On Oct. 1, 2006, they lost 10–8 in extra innings to the Royals, who had 100 losses that season.
Detroit’s last five regular-season games were all losses at home against the Toronto Blue Jays and the Royals.
The final loss handed the AL Central title to the Twins and made the Tigers the AL wild card entrant.
Their opening-round opponent in the postseason was the New York Yankees in the ALDS before they went on that magical run, completing a four-game sweep of the Oakland Athletics in the ALCS to win the pennant.
Detroit fell to the St. Louis Cardinals, marking their first World Series appearance since winning the championship in 1984.
Detroit lost the World Series in five games, but the 2006 team is similar to the 2025 team in that they both lost the division after having a substantial lead.
That team, though, had magical moments like Magglio Ordóñez’s bottom of the ninth walk-off three-run homer to sweep the Athletics to move on to the World Series.
On that roster, Detroit had Rookie of the Year Award winner Justin Verlander, Kenny Rogers, and Joel Zumaya, Curtis Granderson, Craig Monroe, and Iván Rodríguez, along with manager Jim Leyland, to assist in the magical run.
The 2025 team is no slouches either, as they had six all-stars in the Midsummer Classic, which featured Gleyber Torres, Riley Greene, Javier Báez, and Tarik Skubal (all starters), along with Zach McKinstry and Casey Mize (who were selected as replacements).
Even bat boy Frankie Boyd made the cut.
The six selections marked a franchise record for the Tigers, tying the 2013 and 1984-85 teams for the most All-Stars sent to the game.
For the 2025 team, instead of a first-round bye or a home playoff series, the Tigers will now head to Cleveland for the Wild Card round, which starts on Tuesday, Sept. 30.
The pitching matchup features Skubal against Gavin Williams — a rematch of a game the Tigers lost exactly one week earlier.
And Detroit will look to get some “Get back” as Cleveland eliminated them 3-2 in the ALDS.
This season, through 13 games, the Guardians have won eight games, while accumulating 46 runs, seven home runs with an earned run average of 2.19.
The Tigers won five games while knocking in 34 runs, but averaged 1.4 home runs with an earned run average of 2.75 against their divisional foe.
The winner of the best-of-three Tigers-Guardians series will advance to play the second-seeded Seattle Mariners in the ALDS.