1 day Ago By Mike Santa Barbara, Yardbarker
The Detroit Tigers are a step closer to earning an improbable playoff spot. On Wednesday, the Tigers knocked off the Kansas City Royals, 4-2, improving to 80-73. Paired with an extra-innings win by the Cleveland Guardians over the Minnesota Twins, Detroit finds itself only a half-game out of the third and final American League wild-card spot.
The @Tigers sweep the Royals and now sit just half a game back of the final AL Wild Card spot. pic.twitter.
com/jT3nlBwkCh Not too long ago, clinching a postseason berth seemed far out of reach for the Tigers. On Aug. 10, they were 55-63, 13.
5 games back of the AL Central-leading Cleveland Guardians and 10.0 games out of a playoff spot. Since then, the Tigers have gone 25-10 and 11-5 in September alone.
On Wednesday, Detriot won their fourth in a row, clinching a three-game sweep over the Royals (82-71), who own only a two-game lead over Detroit for the second wild-card spot. Should the Tigers do the impossible and make the playoffs, they'll join a rare group. Detroit would be only the second team in MLB history to make the postseason after being eight or more games under .
500 in August, joining the New York Mets in 1973, per OptaStats . In victory, the Tigers rode two standouts that have them back in the thick of the October hunt. Third-year outfielder Riley Greene recorded his 24th home run of the year while ace Tarik Skubal improved to 17-4, striking out seven while allowing three hits and an earned run over 5.
0 innings of work. Skubal has allowed one earned run or less in five of his last seven starts and remains a favorite for the AL Cy Young Award. The 27-year-old All-Star has the best odds (-5000) of earning the honor, per BetMGM .
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