The Detroit Tigers fell to the final AL wild-card spot on the final day of MLB's regular season.
The Tigers came into the day having already locked up a playoff spot entering Game 162 against the Chicago White Sox, but still had seeding to play for. The Tigers were one game ahead of the Kansas City Royals for the fifth seed in the American League playoffs , but the White Sox won 9-5 while the Royals beat the Braves 4-2 to leapfrog Detroit for the fifth seed.
The Tigers are locked into facing the Houston Astros in the first round. Tigers manager A.J. Hinch will coach against his old squad and Justin Verlander, with the winner scheduled to face the No. 2-seed Cleveland Guardians in the ALDS.
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Check out the game recap from Comerica Park and simultaneous scoreboard-watching from Royals-Braves at Truist Park.
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Detroit Tigers wild-card watch recap
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The Tigers loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth with two walks and a Wenceel Perez single. Spencer Torkelson came up to bat with two outs and the bases loaded and drew a walk on a 3-2 count to plate one run and force a Chicago pitching change. Trey Sweeney failed to keep the rally alive with a groundout.
The Braves still trail 4-2 entering their final at-bats in the bottom of the ninth inning.
The results are close to going final and the Tigers are likely going to drop to the sixth AL seed and travel to play the Astros. The Royals left runners on base in the seventh and eighth innings to preserve their two-run lead, while the Tigers haven't made a dent in the White Sox' lead.
Things are pointing towards Houston for the Tigers. The Royals are keeping the Braves at bay while the White Sox added three more runs in the top of the seventh. Casey Mize gave up a leadoff single and a walk before being pulled for Keider Montero, who started his appearance with a walk to load the bases. Bryan Ramos knocked in two with an opposite-field single to right, followed by a Matt Vierling error at third base and a Jacob Amaya single to left to score the third and fourth runs.
The Tigers finally have some life. Spencer Torkelson, Trey Sweeney and Parker Meadows loaded the bases with a trio of walks of Jonathan Cannon, setting up Carpenter with the bases juiced and two outs. Carpenter connected with a fastball at the top of the zone and sent it to the deepest part of right-center field over the old wall to cut the White Sox' lead to 1 entering the final four innings.
The Royals lead the Braves 4-2 in the bottom of the fifth inning.
As of now, the Tigers would be traveling to face the Astros in the wild-card, but the Braves keep battling. Ramón Laureano cut the Royals lead back to two with an RBI single in the bottom of the 4th inning, but bad base running prevented Atlanta from scoring any more runs. In Detroit, the Tigers are still stuck at three hits with zero runs.
Casey Mize came in to replace Kenta Maeda with two outs in the top of the fifth inning. Maeda gave up five runs on five hits in 4⅔ innings.
The Royals pushed the lead back to three runs with a solo shot from Hunter Renfroe in the top of the fourth inning. He demolished a center-center changeup from Charlie Morton at the same time Kenta Maeda took the mound in Detroit for his fifth inning for the Tigers. The Tigers are still trailing 5-0 on five White Sox hits.
An old friend of the Tigers got the Braves on the board. Former Tigers third baseman Gio Urshela, who was one of the veterans shipped out at the trade deadline, hit a solo home run off Alec Marsh to trim Kansas City's lead to two entering the fourth inning. Up in Detroit, the Tigers' bats remain quiet.
Tigers starter Kenta Maeda has allowed five runs on five hits in three innings. Chicago's Lenyn Sosa smashed a two-out, three-run home run to left-center field 405 feet in the third inning. As of now, the Tigers would be heading to Houston to face the Astros.
Maeda gave up two runs in the second inning. Meanwhile in Atlanta, the Royals got a three-run home run from Michael Massey in the first inning off Charlie Morton.
The weather has only started to turn half an hour before first pitch of the Tigers' regular-season finale. The heavy fog and rain from the morning has passed and the grounds crew has taken the tarp off the field, meaning the game should be starting right at 3:10. Fans are consistently streaming in and it should be another well-attended game.
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Pregame notes
The Tigers locked up a playoff spot Friday night in an emotionally charged win over the White Sox and celebrated all night before dropping the sleepy second game on Saturday . Detroit is trying to close the season with its seventh straight series win and get back on the winning side entering the postseason. In the first base dugout, the White Sox have already locked in the worst record in modern MLB history .
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The wild-card series starts on Tuesday , meaning the Tigers will hit the road to either Baltimore or Houston on Monday. The Tigers will have to win two of three on the road to advance to the ALDS and host a home playoff game. The wild-card series takes place over three straight days, Tuesday to Thursday, and the schedule will be announced when the full playoff bracket is set. The Braves and New York Mets play a double-header Monday to determine the final NL wild-card seedings.
The Tigers will have to set a 26-man postseason roster before Tuesday. Most of the roster is pretty set, but the Tigers will have to weigh how many position players vs. pitchers to carry and which fringe players such as Jace Jung or Justin Henry-Malloy will be cut.
Jared Ramsey is a sports reporter for the Detroit Free Press covering the city's professional teams, the state's two flagship universities and more. Follow Jared on X @jared_ramsey22 , and email him at jramsey@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers vs. White Sox score: Game recap in fight for MLB playoff seeding
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