The Astros’ run of ALCS appearances has come to an end. On go the gritty Tigs and the city of Detroit couldn’t be more content.
Detroit STANDDDDDD up. The ball club from the Motor City, the Gritty Tigs — otherwise known as America’s Team this postseason — have swept the experienced Houston Astros in the AL Wild Card round. An eighth-inning rally led by an Andy Ibáñez pinch-hit bases-clearing double vaulted Detroit into the AL Division Series. It’ll be the Michigan outfit’s first time in the ALDS since 2013 when Miguel Cabrera took home Major League Baseball’s Most Valuable Player award.
Despite neither game occurring at Comerica Park, that didn’t stop the fans from celebrating this remarkable triumph. Detriot’s baseball home held a watch party for Games 1 and 2, opening its gates more than an hour prior to first pitch on both days. The club even handed out free “Tigers in the Wild” t-shirts on a first come first serve basis.
It’s quite a time to be a Detroit sports fan. Tigers fans deserve this after seven straight below .500 finishes.
Per Spotrac, the entire 26-man Tigers Wild Card roster “combines for $18.8M of 2024 salary.” For context, Josh Hader, Houston’s closer was paid $19M in 2024. Those numbers are quite jarring. Talk about an underdog.
The triumph means playoff baseball will return to the Motor City. We haven’t seen that since October 5, 2014, a 2-1 defeat at the hands of the Baltimore Orioles. This continues an upward trend in Michigan within its professional sports, which saw its Lions host two postseason NFL games earlier this year.
A.J. Hinch’s side moves on to play fellow AL Central opponent, the Cleveland Guardians. The series is set to begin on Saturday in “Believeland”, with first pitch at 1:08 p.m. ET on TBS. The Tigs were 6-7 this past season against the Guards. The last meeting was quite a while ago on July 30, a time when Detriot was several games below .500.
