CLEVELAND — The Tigers shifted Troy Melton to the bullpen eight weeks ago with the idea of best lining up their relief corps for a postseason run. On Thursday, they moved the rookie right-hander back to a starting role as their best chance to get to the postseason.
- Playoff picture: Bracket, pennant races, tiebreakers and more
Such is the immediacy of their situation. Their singular focus Thursday was to win the game, something they hadn’t done since leaving Miami 11 days earlier.
And yet, as Will Vest pumped his fist after striking out Bo Naylor to end Detroit’s eight-game losing streak with a 4-2 win over the Guardians, they might have found a formula for victory should they complete their task and clinch a playoff spot.
“It hasn’t been going the way we want it to go for a little while now, obviously,” Melton said. “Kinda felt like a weight lifted off our shoulders. We’re back on track.”
The Tigers and Guardians enter the final weekend of the regular season with identical 86-73 records, but Cleveland owns the AL Central divisional tiebreaker by winning the season series. The Guardians clinched it by winning five consecutive matchups over the last week and a half. If the season ended today, the Guardians would have the third seed and host the sixth-seeded Tigers in the AL Wild Card Series at Progressive Field. Any combination of three Tigers wins in Boston or Astros losses to the Angels would clinch a postseason berth for Detroit.
If the Tigers roll into Boston and fare better this weekend against the Red Sox than the Guardians do at home against the Rangers, then the Tigers can claim their first AL Central title since 2014. Even so, they would play a Wild Card Series, albeit as the host, possibly against the then-Wild Card Guardians.
Either way, the Tigers would begin a best-of-three Wild Card Series on Tuesday, with a potential Game 3 on Thursday. Detroit currently has Tarik Skubal lined up to pitch Sunday in Boston, in case they need that game to get to the postseason. If their slot is determined before then, they might be able to push Skubal back for Game 1.
If Skubal pitches Sunday, the Tigers could go into next week with the ultimate challenge: Win a postseason series potentially without their ace and reigning AL Cy Young Award winner. Skubal has never started on three days’ rest; his only outing on short rest in the Majors was a relief appearance in 2021, when he was a 24-year-old rookie in manager A.J. Hinch’s first season in Detroit.
The Tigers have just two other traditional starters in Jack Flaherty and Casey Mize. Charlie Morton and Chris Paddack, their Trade Deadline rotation additions, are now in Atlanta and the Tigers’ bullpen respectively. What Melton did under high-pressure circumstances Thursday not only helped breathe new life into Detroit’s postseason hopes, it presented a compelling option if the Tigers get there.
“Obviously the only goal today was to try to win the game,” Melton said. “However long they needed me for and whatever their plan was, was out of my hands. Just try to make as many pitches as I could. Same goal as it’s been every other game. Obviously it’s a little bit heightened because of the situation.”
Though Melton hadn’t started a game since Aug. 13, the sense of routine came back to him as he warmed up in the bullpen. Pitching with a 2-0 lead thanks to home runs from Jahmai Jones and Wenceel Pérez, Melton threw a first-pitch strike at 97.3 miles per hour, according to Statcast. His last pitch of a 1-2-3 opening inning was a 99 mph fastball to José Ramírez, who hit a line drive that Pérez ran down near the right-field warning track. He threw a 99.4 mph fastball — the hardest pitch of his brief big-league career — to Gabriel Arias the next inning.
“He came out firing hot, so I didn’t know how much stamina he’d have,” Hinch said. “He’s not built up. We thought somewhere in the 40-50 pitch mark.”
The Guardians have grinded at-bats against Tigers starters for a week and a half, but they struggled to figure out Melton, who threw 3 2/3 innings of one-run ball over 49 pitches, 31 of them strikes. He drew just two swinging strikes and one strikeout, but only one ball in play off of him had an exit velocity over 100 mph. He served as the lead-in to pitching chaos, with five relievers covering 16 outs on three hits with a run allowed.
“Melton was outstanding. That fastball is real,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “He was putting it where he wanted to. We just couldn’t get anything going.”
High praise from a team that could see him again next week.
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Senior Reporter Jason Beck has covered the Tigers for MLB.com since 2002.
Ready for a wild final weekend? Here’s everything at stake
8:59 PM PDT
MLB.com
The final weekend of the regular season has arrived and plenty is at stake.
While four teams have clinched their respective divisions, the AL East and Central divisions are still up for grabs, as are the final Wild Card spots in each league. Meanwhile, a slugging catcher is vying to break the American League record for the most home runs in a season.
With this in mind, here’s what’s at stake during the final weekend of the season.
- Postseason Watch: Bracket, Tiebreakers and more
1. Can the Guardians really pull this off?
The Guardians could very well pull off one of the biggest late-season comebacks in MLB history. A whopping 15 1/2 games back of the Tigers in the AL Central as late as July 8, the Guardians are, stunningly, tied with them entering the final weekend. Cleveland has gone 18-6 this month and erased the 10 1/2-game deficit in the AL Central it had entering September.
With the Guardians taking the season series against the Tigers, Cleveland has also guaranteed the tiebreaker advantage, meaning if the two clubs ended the season with the same record, the Guards would be the AL Central champions. Essentially, the Guardians, who play the Rangers this weekend, need to match what the Tigers do (Detroit plays Boston) and Cleveland will be the AL Central champion.
2. Who will win the AL East?
Toronto’s struggles haven’t been quite as drastic as Detroit’s, but the Blue Jays have nonetheless made the AL East race much more interesting than expected. The Blue Jays had a lead as big as 6 1/2 games in the East as late as July 28, but they’re tied with the Yankees with a 91-68 record entering the final weekend.
While the Blue Jays have struggled of late, there’s still a chance they not only win the division but also finish as the top seed in the American League. Having won the season series against the Yankees and Mariners, the Blue Jays would hold a tiebreaker advantage over both clubs. That means:
- If the Blue Jays finish the season with the same record as the Yankees, Toronto would win the AL East.
- If the Blue Jays win the AL East and finish the season with the same record as the Mariners, Toronto would secure the No. 1 seed in the American League.
- 2025 MLB Standings
3. Will the Mets make the playoffs?
Through the end of July, the Mets were seriously vying for the NL East division and were battling for the No. 1 seed in the National League. It’s been downhill since then, with the Mets going 20-30 since the beginning of August, the fifth-worst record in the Majors. The Mets, however, had a pivotal win against the Cubs on Thursday and remain a game ahead of the Reds for the final NL Wild Card spot.
It’s important that the Mets stay a game ahead of the Reds, too, as Cincinnati won the season series vs. New York. If the two clubs end the season with the same record, the Reds would take the third Wild Card spot. The D-backs are also still in the mix at two games behind the Mets, but they’ll need a lot to go right to secure the last playoff spot.
4. Could Cal tie or break the AL home run record?
Next on the list is getting to 62 home runs and tying Aaron Judge (2022) for the most home runs in a season in AL history. Raleigh is already firmly in the AL MVP race with Judge, but reaching or exceeding 62 homers could be a deciding factor.
5. Playoff seeding
The Brewers and Phillies won their respective divisions and secured the top two seeds in the National League, meaning they’ll get a bye in the Wild Card round. The Dodgers secured their 12th NL West title in 13 seasons with a win on Thursday, giving them the No. 3 NL seed. The Cubs and Padres, too, secured NL playoff berths and will take the top Wild Card seeds, with the order yet to be determined. The last Wild Card spot will come down to the Mets, Reds or D-backs.
Over in the American League, much is still to be decided. The Mariners won the AL West and the Blue Jays and Yankees secured playoff berths. But the final two AL Wild Card spots and the East and Central divisions are still up for grabs.
6. How many 50-homer seasons will there be?
Raleigh (60 home runs), Kyle Schwarber (56), Shohei Ohtani (54) and Judge (51) have all cleared 50 home runs in 2025, tying an MLB record for the most players with 50 homers in a season, which was also done in 2001 and 1998. One more player could join them, however, with Eugenio Suárez sitting at 49 home runs as we enter the final weekend. If the Mariners third baseman can get there, the ‘25 season would stand alone with five 50-homer players, the most in a single season in MLB history.
7. Could Rafael Devers play in 163 games?
What a year it’s been for Devers. The longtime Red Sox third baseman and franchise cornerstone was traded to the Giants in a blockbuster move in mid-June and has had another ho-hum Devers season, posting an .844 OPS with 34 home runs between the two teams. After playing in 73 games with the Red Sox, Devers has played in 87 games with the Giants, giving him 160 total games. If he plays in San Francisco’s final three games, Devers will become the first player to play in more than 162 games in a season since Justin Mourneau for the Twins in 2008.
8. Ohtani’s quest for 150 runs
With 144 runs scored entering the final weekend, Ohtani is vying for a level of run-scoring that few players have ever reached. If Ohtani manages to score six runs in the Dodgers’ final three games, he’d be the first player with 150 runs scored since Jeff Bagwell had 152 for the 2000 Astros. Before Bagwell, you have to go all the way back to Ted Williams in 1949. A 140-run season is impressive in its own right, but 150 runs is incredibly rare.
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