Fastball

Detroit Tigers Use Historic Rally to Advance to American League Division Series

The Detroit Tigers, one of the most improbable stories in recent playoff memory, are now headed to the ALDS.

Brady Farkas

Detroit Tigers catcher Jake Rogers (34) celebrates with teammates in the locker room after defeating the Houston Astros in game two of the Wildcard round for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Minute Maid Park on Oct 2.
Detroit Tigers catcher Jake Rogers (34) celebrates with teammates in the locker room after defeating the Houston Astros in game two of the Wildcard round for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Minute Maid Park on Oct 2. / Thomas Shea-Imagn Images
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The Detroit Tigers continued their improbable playoff run on Wednesday afternoon by beating the Houston Astros in the American League wild card round.

Detroit, who was eight games under .500 in August, has now advanced to the American League Divisional Series. It's their first trip to the playoffs since the 2014 season.

The Tigers needed some late-inning magic in this one, scoring four times in the bottom of the eighth inning to pull out the 5-2 victory.

With the win, the Tigers accomplished some very rare franchise history.

Per Sarah Langs of MLB.com:

this was the Tigers’ first postseason win when trailing entering the 8th since 1987 ALCS G3

they had lost 21 consecutive such postseason games

DET’s only other such PS wins: 1935 WS G3, 1934 WS G2

The big blow in this game came from an Andy Ibanez bases-clearing triple. It came off Astros high-priced offseason acquisition Josh Hader,

On the mound, Detroit got a solid outing from seven different pitchers in the win. After trading away Jack Flaherty at the trade deadline and after demoting Kenta Maeda to the bullpen, the Tigers don't really have an established starter behind Tarik Skubal. These bullpen games have become common for manager AJ Hinch over the last two months.

Detroit will take on the Cleveland Guardians in the ALDS, which is set to begin Saturday. These two teams obviously know each other well, as they both reside in the American League Central.

First pitch is set for 1:08 p.m. ET. We know that Tanner Bibee will pitch for Cleveland.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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