Everything is looking bleak for the Detroit Tigers right now, and their 5-1 loss to the Cleveland Guardians might be the final nail in the coffin of their AL Central crown hopes. The Guardians own the tiebreaker over them, so Cleveland essentially has a one-game buffer over them — making it close to impossible for the Tigers to overtake them barring an unforeseen late collapse from Cleveland or an improbable late surge from Detroit.
Now is the time for the Tigers to get it done, lest they see all their hard work this season go to waste. And Detroit is certainly thinking long and hard about the stakes of their next few games. At present, the Tigers' probable starter for their series finale against the Guardians is listed as “TBD”, with Detroit keeping their cards close to the vest for what could be a season-defining game against their division rival.
“We got to sort it out, so it’ll be a long night,” Hinch said, per Evan Petzold of Detroit Free Press.
There are indeed a lot of things that the Tigers have to sort out. Their locker room has to be either in a major state of denial or a major state of despair — nothing in between — as they see their playoff dreams go up in smoke with each passing defeat.
The only source of comfort for the Tigers is that the Houston Astros also lost on Wednesday, with the Athletics shutting them out, 6-0, which means that they are sitting in a Wild Card spot still for the meantime. (They also own the tiebreaker over the Astros, giving them a one-game buffer.)
At this point, the AL Central looks lost. All the Tigers could hope for is to win enough ballgames to squeeze into the postseason even though they look like lifeless husks at the moment.
Tigers' final four games of the season will decide postseason fate
There is no rest to be had for these weary Tigers. They will be ending the season with a three-game series against another playoff hopeful in the Boston Red Sox, and that will decide whether or not they make it to the playoffs.
They essentially have a two-game advantage over the Astros for the third and final AL Wild Card spot, so not all hope is lost. But the Astros will be facing the Los Angeles Angels to end the year. The Red Sox haven't qualified for the playoffs yet, so those games against the Tigers will be must-win — making life all the more difficult for Detroit.
