The magical run of the 2024 Detroit Tigers has come to an end.
The Tigers fell to the Cleveland Guardians in the American League Divisional Series three games to two. Cleveland will advance to face the AL East champion New York Yankees in the American League Conference Series.
Despite the sadness that the team and all Tigers fans face, this season will go down as extremely memorable for Detroit fans. This team overcame a massive deficit in win totals in early August and fought its way into a Wild Card berth. They defeated the powerhouse Houston Astros and brought the Guardians to the brink of elimination.
After making the playoffs for the first time in ten years, fans won’t soon forget this team’s miraculous final few months. To commemorate them, let’s walk back the top five moments for the Tigers from the playoff run.
5. Zach McKinstry ties Game 4 of ALDS with a solo home run
Game 4 was probably the best game of the divisional series against Cleveland. The scoring started early, with the Guardians driving in a run in the first and rookie Trey Sweeney tying it in the second.
In the fifth inning, Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez cranked a home run to left center off Tiger reliever Tyler Holton. All the energy left Comerica Park.
Only to be restored in the very next inning by McKinstry. Cleveland’s Cade Smith, a dominant reliever in his own right, gave up a home run to McKinstry on a 3-1 pitch, tying the game at 2-2. It was only McKinstry’s 5th homerun of the entire year.
And Comerica erupted.
4. Skubal carves up Cleveland in Game 2 of ALDS
Enough can’t be said about the year that Tarik Skubal has. The powerful lefty just put together one of the most complete, dominant pitching seasons in Detroit history and will likely be rewarded with a Cy Young award.
Skubal dominated Cleveland from start to finish, going seven innings of shutout ball with eight strikeouts. He only allowed three hits and let up no runs. When Cleveland threatened in the 5th and 6th innings, Skubal immediately got the Tigers out of the inning with ground outs to double plays.
Every Detroiter should invest in a Skubal jersey. The man deserves fans’ undying praise.
3. Wenceel Pérez takes the lead in Game 4 of ALDS
So many Tigers rookies had big moments in the playoffs, and this one was really up there.
With a tied game at 2-2 in the top of the sixth inning, Detroit was looking to reclaim the lead with the top of the order coming up. Kerry Carpenter led off with a walk before a Matt Vierling strikeout and a Riley Greene walk. After Colt Keith struck out, Detroit called on Pérez to hit for Spencer Torkelson.
With two men on and two outs, Pérez singled in a run, giving Detroit a vital 3-2 lead late in the game.
2. Andy Ibáñez hits a bases-clearing double in the eighth inning of Game 2 of the AL Wild Card Game
After a Parker Meadows home run in the sixth inning of Game 2 against Houston in the Wild Card, Detroit had a 1-0 lead. Reliever Jackson Jobe of Detroit quickly handed the lead over to the Astros in the seventh, letting up two hits and two runs in the frame.
In a postseason defined by resilience and grittiness, the team rose to the occasion and displayed just how tough they were. The top of the eighth started strong with two singles after a Meadows strikeout, and Carpenter was able to score on a wild pitch. A strikeout from Greene and a walk each from Keith and Torkelson loaded the bases for Detroit with two outs.
Manager A.J. Hinch called on rookie righty Ibáñez to face the left-handed reliever Josh Hader. In his first at-bat of the game, Ibáñez roped a double down the third-base line on a 1-2 pitch, clearing the bases and giving Detroit a 5-2 lead.
Detroit took the game and won their first postseason series since 2013.
1. Kerry Carpenter hits a go-ahead ninth-inning home run in Game 2 of ALDS
Game 2 in Cleveland was tight from start to finish. Skubal took the mound for the Tigers and excelled, pitching seven innings of shutout ball to go with eight strikeouts and only three hits. The Guardians shut down the Tigers’ bats until Emmanuel Clase, Cleveland’s star reliever, took the bump in the ninth inning with a score of 0-0.
Clase retired Detroit’s first two batters, but then Jake Rogers and Sweeney, the 8th and 9th hitters in Detroit’s lineup, hit singles.
With two men on and two outs, Carpenter came to the plate, and on a 2-2 pitch, he sent Clase’s slider 423 feet deep into the stands at Progressive Field. Detroit reliever Beau Brieske finished the game in the bottom of the ninth, and the Tigers came out of Cleveland with a tied series at 1-1.