The Detroit Tigers have qualified for the playoffs for the first time in 10 years.
Following a raucous celebration, the Tigers must settle down and play another game on Saturday afternoon.
Detroit (86-74) snared an American League wild-card playoff berth with a 4-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Friday night. They did it with two games to spare in the regular season.
The Tigers, who were nine games under .500 on July 4, have won six straight and 15 of their last 18 games. They drew a crowd of 44,435 on Friday.
“As a player, this is where you want to go,” said Matt Vierling, who drove in a run and scored another. “You want to be in the postseason. It’s what we play for. We work every day, we work hard for it. This is the goal, to get here. I’m just so proud of the whole team. To see the whole city out here like this is absolutely incredible. … We’re fired up to keep on going.”
Detroit hasn’t been to the postseason since 2014. With Kansas City’s loss to Atlanta on Friday, the Tigers currently hold the No. 2 wild-card spot.
The Tigers are just thrilled to get an invitation to the party. They were nine games under .500 on July 4 and were still hovering around .500 earlier this month.
“You know what we like? We like winning,” manager A.J. Hinch said in a postgame TV interview while wearing an “October Ready” shirt. “There’s nothing better. We’re October bound, just like our shirts say. We’ve earned it. We don’t talk a lot about it because we need to stack these days. I’m overwhelmed with joy because I get to watch a team grow up right in front of my eyes. And now I get to watch this team play in October. Nothing better.”
Hinch once again pieced together a bullpen day in the clincher, using five pitchers to hold the White Sox to three hits.
“It’s been a long road to get to this point,” first baseman Spencer Torkelson said. “It took everybody, from the lowest on the totem pole to the highest. Those tough times, those times when you’re grinding it out as a team, that’s what makes this so sweet.”
The White Sox (39-121) set the modern-day record for most losses in a single season, surpassing the 1962 New York Mets, on Friday.
Rookie right-hander Sean Burke (1-0, 1.93 ERA) is scheduled to make his fourth career appearance and third start for the White Sox on Saturday.
Burke had a stellar performance on Sunday against San Diego. He held the Padres to one run and two hits, issuing just one walk while striking out eight in six innings. He exited with a 2-1 lead, but the Padres rallied for a 4-2 win.
“Burke threw a hell of a game,” outfielder Andrew Benintendi said. “They’ve got a lot of good bats up and down that lineup, guys that have played a long time.”
Burke, Chicago’s third-round pick back in 2021, spent most of the season with Triple-A Charlotte. In 16 starts there, he posted a 2-6 record and 4.62 ERA.
The Tigers haven’t named a starter.
