Winners Of Five Straight, Tigers Roaring Back To Life
By Will Burchfield/ Follow Will @Burchie_kid
DETROIT (CBS DETROIT) - Just as they clawed back against the Astros on Saturday night, so have the Tigers clawed back into the playoff hunt.
Ten days ago, this team was 7.5 games down in the A.L. Central and 4.5 down in the wild card. They had just dropped two of three at home to the lowly Twins, spurring suggestions that it was time to sell. They were sliding toward another disheartening August.
Look at them now.
After five straight wins against the Red Sox and Astros, they sit within 4.5 games of the division lead and 1.5 of the second wild card spot, having leapfrogged Houston in the process. A playoff race is beginning to heat up, and the Tigers are fanning the flames.
"I mean, shoot, tomorrow is the the last day of July. When August, September roll around, it's playoff time. You start making your move," said James McCann, who delivered a supremely clutch game-tying hit with two outs in the ninth in Detroit's 3-2 comeback win.
The Tigers played with real urgency on Saturday night, urgency they were noticeably lacking the last time they were home. From the way Cameron Maybin scored from first on a dropped pop-fly to the way Justin Upton roared around third and slid into home after McCann's line drive to left, this team found a new competitive gear.
And there was no scaling it back.
In fact Upton laughed at the notion that he could have been stopped at third with the Tigers down by a run.
"There was no intention - zero intention - of stopping," he said.
Justin Verlander twirled a gem for the Tigers, taking a two-hit shutout into the ninth inning. But the pesky Astros clipped him for two runs in the final frame and looked poised to steal one at Comerica.
"I put us behind the eight-ball there and it didn't look like we were going to win the game. Obviously I was shouldering the blame for that," said Verlander, who notched his second complete game of the season.
But the Tigers made their last licks count. The rally started with a walk to Upton and ended with an infield single by Jose Iglesias, all of it transpiring with two outs.
"Two-out lightning," Verlander smiled. "It's a beautiful thing."
The box score will say Iglesias collected the winning hit. But it won't say how. He hit a slow roller in the first-base hole and then took off down the line, 34,00-plus fans nearly running along with him.
"Hurry, hurry, hurry," Verlander was thinking.
"I've seen him do it before. He flies down the line when he can smell a hit."
The speedy Iglesias beat closer Will Harris to the bag by the hair on his chin as Tyler Collins came home from third, and then whirled his arms in the air and pumped his fists in celebration. With Houston preparing to make out like thieves, the Tigers caught them in the act.
"To be up 1-0 in the ninth and all of a sudden you're down 2-1 and then conversely to come back and win it 3-2, you go from what could have been a real painful loss to a real exciting win," said Brad Ausmus.
It was an up-and-down game, much like it's been an up-and-down season. If the series loss to Minnesota was the nadir of the Tigers' woes, Verlander's ninth-inning slip-up was tonight's darkest hour. It was then, with the lights beginning to flicker, that the Tigers came roaring back to life.
"There are definitely more memorable games [throughout a season] and there's no question that this is probably one of them," Ausmus said. "In terms of excitement and energy, even as far as walk-offs go this is one that stands out."
The Tigers turned grim into grand with a last-gasp rally on Saturday night, and they've gone from floundering to flourishing in the standings. Nearly four months into the season, they seem to be finally hitting their stride.
"I like this team, I like this team a lot," said Verlander. "I like where we're at."