My Two Cents: Can Red-Hot Tigers Actually Pull This Off?

No one really thought about the Detroit Tigers as a playoff team this year, but they've gotten hot late and now are just 2.5 games away from a wild-card spot. With two weeks to go, can they pull of a miracle and make the postseason?

Detroit Tigers left fielder Riley Greene (31) high-fives teammates after beating the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

DETROIT — In the six-month daily grind that is a major-league baseball season, every year there are probably a half-dozen or so teams that are mostly irrelevant nationally. It's just the way it is.

This season, the Detroit Tigers fall into that category. They are the only American League Central team that hasn't really raised any eyebrows in 2024, for good reasons or bad.

Until now. In September. With the clock ticking down on the season.

The red-hot Tigers flirted with a perfect game on Friday against the mighty Baltimore Orioles, and then took a no-hitter into the ninth, coming one out short when Gunnar Henderson tripled with two outs. But Detroit reliever Tyler Horton struck out Anthony Santandar and the Tigers had a 1-0 win.

Another win.

It's been an amazing run for the Tigers. They were nine games under .500 on July 4, and were still eight under .500 after an Aug. 10 loss at San Francisco. But they've been a different team ever since, going 23-9 and executing well in all phases of the game.

And all of a sudden, they are right in the thick of a playoff race. With Friday's win, a shutout against one of the most dangerous lineups in the league, the Tigers are now 76-72 with 14 games to go. They're just 2.5 games behind the reeling Minnesota Twins for the sixth and final AL playoff spot.

No one saw this coming. I certainly didn't. No one added any extra meaning to the Tigers avoiding a sweep on that Sunday in San Francisco. But since Aug. 10, they've been on fire. They've had a six-game winning streak, and two other four-game streaks.

They gotten hot, and they've stayed hot

And they've done it against a tough schedule, too, at least in spots. They swept the Seattle Mariners, and took two of three against the New York Yankees. They've also won series against Boston, the Los Angeles Angels, Colorado and Oakland — as they should — and they swept the horrific Chicago White Sox in four games. They are 9-1 against the White Sox this year, and finish the season against the worst team in baseball history, which says something about their path to the playoffs.

It's clear lately that the Tigers come ready to play every night. That was never more evident than Wednesday night, when they scored six runs in the first inning in a 7-4 win over Colorado

"It's incredible," Tigers catcher Jake Rogers said earlier this week. "Everybody in this clubhouse, I want them to get this feeling of being in the hunt and being able to push into September because we got a good enough team to do it. I want these guys to know, we got something to work for this year, next year and the years coming. We got a great team. We can do it."

Getting that first win against the Orioles is big, too. They've been the best team in the American League all year along with the Yankees, but they've been scuffling a bit at the plate lately. It's the first time the Tigers have seen the Orioles all year — they play again in Baltimore next weekend — and they're a big hurdle in the Tigers' path to that playoff finish line. They need to beat them, and started the series great with the Friday win.

Brant Hurter, the second of four Detriot pitchers on the night, pitched 5 2/3 innings and left after 17 straight outs and then a walk. They didn't do much offensively against Orioles starter Zach Eflin — Kerry Carpenter's first-inning solo home run was enough, but it was all they got — and they'll need to beat Baltimore ace Corbin Burnes on Saturday.

Here's what the Tigers have left this season:

• Home vs. Baltimore, Saturday and Sunday.

• At Kansas City, Sept. 16-18

• At Baltimore, Sept. 20-22

• Home vs. Tampa Bay Sept. 24-26

• Home vs. Chicago White Sox, Sept. 27-29

Can they get it done? It would certainly help if the Twins continue their freefall. They're just 8-16 in their last 24 games dating back to Aug. 18. They also need to keep an eye on the rear-view mirror, with the Mariners a game behind them, and Boston two back.

These eight games with the Oriioles and Royals? They probably need to go 5-3. And then that last week at home against the Rays and White Sox, well, a 6-0 or 5-1 final week would be huge.

But give the Tigers credit for even being in this position. They go through long stretches without hitting well, but this past month they've come up with several timely hits. Their bullpen was great early, then horrible for several months in a row. They've been better lately, which has been huge.

Their starting pitching, led by Tarik Skubal, has been mostly good lately, too. They need to be at their best the last two weeks. Detroit manager A.J. Hinch knows what it takes to win in September, and he's been pushing all the right buttons lately. Short on starting pitching, he's been using openers often and it's been working — like it did Friday night.

This much we know for sure. The Tigers, in late September, are worth watching. We haven't been able to say that much this year.