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Tigers Baseball Report

Tigers Announce Lineup Looking to Keep Playoff Push Alive Against Blue Jays

It sure is a long shot, but the Tigers might have a shot to play baseball in October if they keep winning.
Maddy Dickens|
Tigers left fielder Riley Greene (31) rounds the bases after hitting a home run. Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn
Tigers left fielder Riley Greene (31) rounds the bases after hitting a home run. Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

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Detroit Tigers

The MLB season is quickly coming to a close. It felt like just yesterday Opening Day was here, and now it is the middle of September; if any team fell short of expectations for their success this year, it is the Detroit Tigers.

The Tigers went into the 2026 season with expectations of a World Series bid, but things went so far south that they traded away both Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize at the deadline. However, their playoff hopes aren't dead quite yet.

Yes, Detroit is currently eight games under .500, but the American League has a very mediocre turtle race going on for the final wild card spot which the Tigers are currently 4.5 games out of which isn't ideal with two weeks left of the season.

However, mathematically, this ballclub has not been eliminated from October baseball just yet, and if they are somehow able to keep winning games with a below-average bullpen as well as getting a lot of help from other teams, then there is a chance that they get a chance at the postseason.

Somehow, some way the Tigers went from the wrong side of a no-hit bid on Monday night against the Toronto Blue Jays to dramatically win the series opener as they scored six runs with their final nine outs.

Game 2 Starters in Toronto

Kevin McGonigle swings a bat in an orange Detroit jerse
Tigers third baseman Kevin McGonigle (7) steps up to bat in the first inning of a game against the Rockies. Credit: Josh Boland-USA TODAY Network via Imagn | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Typically, when the Blue Jays' bullpen takes over a game, it is usually a slam dunk that leads to victory as long as Toronto has the lead, but that wasn't the case last night as a few of their high-leverage guys were unavailable.

That being said, it will be a little bit of a different story on Tuesday, so taking advantage of a beaten-down starting rotation needs to come into play early in the game, so it should ultimately look entirely different if they want to take this series.

However, they have to do it without Dillon Dingler, as Eduardo Valencia will be the man behind the dish, and rookie sensation Kevin McGonigle is sliding into the designated hitter role.

  1. DH Kevin McGonigle
  2. 2B Gleyber Torres
  3. 3B Hao-Yu Lee
  4. LF Riley Greene
  5. C Eduardo Valencia
  6. CF Max Clark
  7. 1B Spencer Torkelson
  8. RF Zach McKinstry
  9. SS John Peck

Time is definitely running out on Detroit's season, but all they can do is focus on the game ahead of them and root hard for the opponents of the teams currently ahead of them in playoff contention. A lot of moving parts are involved with this one, and all they can do is control what they can control, which continues on Tuesday in Toronto.

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Maddy Dickens
MADDY DICKENS

Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.

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