DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Tigers earned an AL wild card berth on Friday night, ending a decade-long postseason drought. Detroit clinched a spot in the playoffs with a 4-1 win over the Chicago White Sox, who set a modern major league record with their 121st loss. The Tigers have been on a tear, winning six straight and 10 of 11 to surge into the playoffs.
Detroit was 55-63 on Aug. 10, 10 games out of the last wild card, and then went 31-11. During that stretch, the Tigers have the lowest ERA in baseball and the largest run differential.
AL Cy Young Award favorite Tarik Skubal leads Detroit's rotation and Jason Foley has become a reliable closer in a strong bullpen. Riley Greene, an All-Star outfielder, is the team's top player in a lineup that gets timely hitting from the top to the bottom. Taking advantage of playing a historically bad team, Detroit broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning Friday night.
Jake Rogers scored when Jared Shuster was charged with a wild pitch even though the ball didn’t hit the dirt just below catcher Korey Lee’s glove. Greene put Detroit ahead 3-1 with a double in the seventh, and Chicago helped the home team’s cause again later in the inning when Fraser Ellard threw the team’s third wild pitch of the night. Detroit went into the season expecting to contend for a spot in the playoffs in a second full season under president of basketball operations Scott Harris and A.
J. Hinch's fourth year as manager. The Tigers started strong, winning .