A playoff game in Detroit, in… October? Yes, you read that right. The Detroit Tigers are playing in a home playoff game for the first time in 10 years. GM Scott Harris and manager AJ Hinch have keyed the Tigers to a surprise playoff run, and they’re still fighting.
Comerica Park on Wednesday afternoon, between the orange out and the orange rally towels given away at the gates, looked like a giant frat party combined with a hunter’s safety class, what with all the noise and the bright orange.
And the Tigers gave their passionate fan base plenty of reason to make noise, stealing a win in Cleveland and having the opportunity to end the series in Detroit.
Hinch’s patented pitching chaos propelled the Tigers to a late season playoff run, and subsequently, beating the Houston Astros twice to cruise into the ALDS against the Cleveland Guardians.
Entering Wednesday, the Tigers have the series deadlocked at one game apiece. Fast forward to Wednesday, and the Tigers looked to continue their chaos at home.
Keider Montero got the start and threw six pitches to get three outs and start the shutout. In the bottom of the first, Parker Meadows and Riley Greene both singled, Greene driving in Meadows, to start the Comerica party.
Montero was lifted after the first for Brant Hurter, who danced in and out of trouble while buying the rest of the bullpen a few innings worth of rest.
In the bottom of the third, the Tigers struck again, this time with a Jake Rogers lead-off double before Meadows bounced out and advanced Rogers to third. Matt Vierling then hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Rogers and extending the Tigers lead to 2-0.
Hurter played with fire for a little longer, eventually exiting with one out in the fourth, as Beau Brieske cleaned up the inning. Brieske threw a scoreless fifth inning and kept up the shutout through the sixth.
Come the bottom of the sixth the Tigers looked to add to their lead. Colt Keith singled with one out and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Spencer Torkelson immediately followed that with a double that scored Keith and extended the Tigers’ lead to 3-0.
The back end of the bullpen took the insurance run and ran with it. Brieske, Sean Guenther, Wil Vest, and Tyler Holton worked together to finish the shutout and a Tigers win.
Winning a home playoff game is always important, and by winning without Skubal, the Tigers can use him in either a potential game five on Saturday or, by winning game four on Thursday, they could wait to use him until game one of the ALCS.
