Playoffs! ‘Special’ Tigers have remarkable run in MLB postseason

Detroit – To steal a line from former Pistons point guard Chauncey Billups, who, by the way, was captain of a championship team in this city: “If it ain’t rough, it ain’t good.”

Everything about what the Tigers have done over the last seven weeks has been tough. Some would have thought it impossible, certainly unlikely. But as the sold-out crowd of 44,435 at Comerica Park on Friday night will happily testify, it was that good.

The Tigers, who were left for dead at the trade deadline eight games under .500 on August 10, will play postseason baseball for the first time since 2014.

“I’m quite overwhelmed that we’ve pulled this off,” manager AJ Hinch said after celebrating on the pitch and addressing his beer and champagne-soaked squad in the clubhouse. “Not because of talent. Not because of faith. But because of the opportunities. We had to do a lot and we had to do a lot day in and day out. And we did that.”

The festive crowd was on its feet from the seventh inning as the Tigers defeated the Chicago White Sox 4-1 to secure a spot in the American League Wild Card Series.

“I really wanted our guys to get that moment on our field,” Hinch said. “How incredible it was to see the boys storm the field, the coaches all hugging each other in the dugout as 45,000 people screamed.”

The win eliminated the Minnesota Twins. The Tigers open the postseason on Tuesday in Houston or Baltimore. The win also relegated the White Sox to a dubious place in baseball history. It was their 121st loss of the season, surpassing the 1962 Mets for baseball ineptitude.

“Look back at where these guys were last year,” Hinch said. “Not only the guys in the big leagues, but a lot of them were in the minor leagues and worked their way up here. I was pretty overwhelmed for this group and for this organization. This is my fourth year here and we were able to experience last week what winning was like when we crossed the 81-win mark.

“But this is better because we can keep playing. It can get even better if we keep building good days. I’m just so proud of this group.”

Subscribers: Wojo: Detroit Tigers’ improbable, incredible run leads to playoffs

It took a 31-11 disaster for the Tigers to put themselves in this position. And it’s been a parade of heroes these past two months.

Parker Meadows, with his two home run steals – one in Seattle against Cal Raleigh and the other in Baltimore against Colton Cowser. Meadows again, with two dramatic game-winning hits: the walk-off single that defeated the Yankees in the Little League Classic in Williamsport and, of course, the two-out, 3-2 grand slam homer that defeated San Diego 4-3.

Tarik Skubal, who will win the American League Cy Young award in a month, was 6-0 during the series and posted a 1.96 ERA with 66 strikeouts and nine walks. The Tigers’ entire pitching staff was stellar, posting the lowest ERA and WHIP in baseball. He will start Game 1 of the playoffs.

“This means a lot,” he said. “We traded guys at the deadline and now look at us. It means a lot to the guys in the clubhouse and it says a lot about the guys in the clubhouse. Hats off to everyone.”

Keider Montero, one of 12 rookies on this team, threw a “Maddux” (complete game shutout in less than 100 pitches) against the Rockies. Beau Brieske pitched out of a bases-loaded jam and then closed out an extra-inning win in Baltimore. Brieske and Brant Hurter also put up 21 straight hitters against the Orioles.

Riley Greene and Kerry Carpenter with multi-homer games. Matt Vierling, with his Kirk Gibson-esque sprint and head-first slide across the plate, helped secure the win Thursday that put the Tigers on the precipice of the playoffs.

“I think we exceeded expectations,” Greene said. “It’s so much fun doing this with this group of guys.”

Greene then dragged CEO Christopher Ilitch into the center of the clubhouse to be showered with champagne and beer like everyone else.

“It’s not safe for anyone there,” Hinch said. “Not even the owner. He has been incredibly supportive of me and our office and the fact that our players are confident enough, or perhaps naive enough, to include him in the celebratory shower in that way will never be forgotten.”

Greene said: “I’ve always dreamed of doing that. It’s been great because he’s part of our team too.”

It was the same effort on Friday.

Opener Brenan Hanifee (two innings) and Hurter helped the Tigers through six innings, allowing only a solo homer to Zach DeLoach (to Hurter) and leaving a 2-1 lead at the back of the bullpen.

The Tigers couldn’t accomplish much against White Sox lefty Garrett Crochet, but they knew he was pitching restrictions and wouldn’t play many more than 60 pitches.

He was up at 62 when Trey Sweeney grounded out with the bases loaded to end the fourth inning.

The Tigers promptly scored two runs in the fifth. Lefty reliever Jared Shuster walked Jake Rogers and Andy Ibanez around a single by Meadows. A wild pitch brought Rogers home and a sacrifice fly by Vierling set up another.

Then came the seventh. Against another lefty reliever, Fraser Ellard, Ibanez doubled, advanced to third base on an error by center fielder Dominic Fletcher and scored on a double by Greene.

Vierling, who walked Greene intentionally, scored on the White Sox’s third wild pitch of the game.

The Tigers were nine outs away and the crowd was ready to party.

BOX SCORE: Tigers 4, White Sox 1

Will Vest got five quick outs and struck out high-octane Bryan Ramos and Korey Lee to end the eighth. He received a standing ovation as he left the field and applauded back to the fans.

Hinch entrusted the next three outs to Tyler Holton, who epitomized the Tigers’ unselfish pitching staff. Since the beginning of July he has performed 35 times. He opened eight games and finished ten games. He has worked every inning one through nine and beyond.

After retiring the side and leaving to another standing ovation, his ledger showed just four earned runs in his final 52 innings.

The final out went to Jason Foley and he got the party started, prompting Andrew Vaughn to hit a fly ball to right. Meadows and right fielder Wenceel Perez almost collided, but Perez held on.

“That was a perfect picture of how to end the game and get our ticket to October,” Hinch said. “With an imperfect game and with guys literally trying to do anything to catch it.”

If it’s not heavy…

The Tigers currently hold the second wild-card spot since losing to the Royals on Friday. The magic number to clinch second spot is two (since the Royals have the tiebreaker). The second wild card plays against the Orioles; the third is against the Astros.

“I believe in these players,” Hinch said. “It starts with the players and it keeps building and there have been a lot of people who have contributed to the continued build. We have learned a lot along the way. We were able to find players. The front office has applied pressure and I have pushed back. It’s a great collaboration with one goal and that is to win. That’s been the name of the game since I got here. Everyone had one goal: to bring a winner to Detroit.

“Some may have thought this meant a winning season. We checked that box. Now it’s a playoff-bound team. We checked that box. Now we can try to get more and more wins to make for a very special summer to create.” “

[email protected]

@cmccosky