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.
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.