"We feel really good about how we're doing it, not just what we're doing," manager A.J. Hinch said before Friday's game. "We put a lot of work in to play as consistently as we can and bring it every day. The DNA, the personality of this club is very special. We don't think much of it. We really just come to play and win. We've done a lot of that recently, and we hope to do more."
But the Tigers — in Hinch's fourth year as manager — will open the postseason Tuesday, against either the Houston Astros or the Baltimore Orioles. The opponent and location for the three-game wild-card series will be determined by the seeding of the three wild-card teams, which might not be finalized until Sunday evening.
Tarik Skubal , the front-runner to win the AL Cy Young Award, is expected to start Game 1 of the wild-card series. The southpaw has a 2.39 ERA with 228 strikeouts in 31 starts.
"It's why you play the game, to pitch in the postseason and to hopefully win the big one," Skubal said before Thursday's game. "That's the most important thing in this game, and that's the most important thing to me. Awards, you care about them, but I'd like the World Series ring more than anything."
To get to the playoffs, the Tigers turned on the jets with a 31-11 record in 42 games since Aug. 11. At the same time, the Minnesota Twins posted a 12-24 record in 36 games since Aug. 18 to freefall out of the playoff picture.
The epic failure of the Twins opened the door for the red-hot Tigers to catch up.
Sure enough, the Tigers joined the 1973 New York Mets as the only teams to make the playoffs after being at least eight games under .500 through 115 games.
Pitching was the biggest difference between the Tigers and the Twins in their respective end-of-season trends. Since Aug. 11, the Tigers lead MLB with a 2.60 ERA. Since Aug. 18, the Twins rank 25th in MLB with a 4.65 ERA.
"I've been managing like Game 7 for two months, is what it feels like," Hinch said. "We want to win today's game, and we're going to use the guys that can help us win today's game. You're going to see us play the same brand that we've been playing with that has got us to this point. ... We got to play the nine innings, and we got to play to win. Whatever the game calls for is what we're going to try to do."
As of Friday's game, the Tigers had the youngest roster among the 30 MLB teams, an average age of 26.3. Only two players on the roster — outfielder Matt Vierling and right-handed reliever Kenta Maeda — have postseason experience.
The franchise has now made the playoffs in 17 of its 125 seasons, winning the World Series in 1935, 1945, 1968 and 1984. Since the 1984 championship, though, the Tigers advanced to the playoffs in just seven of the last 40 seasons.
While seeding needs to be determined, the six AL teams are locked in for the postseason: New York Yankees (AL East), Cleveland Guardians (AL Central), Astros (AL West), Orioles (wild card), Tigers (wild card) and Kansas City Royals (wild card).
Of those teams, the Tigers took the most improbable route to the playoffs.
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