Tigers Start Crucial Weekend Series With Wild Card Up For Grabs

DETROIT — The Detroit Tigers pulled into a tie for the last American League wild-card spot after sweeping the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday and another Minnesota Twins loss Thursday afternoon.

The Tigers, (80-73), have just nine games left and they need to finish at least one game ahead of the Twins to claim the final spot, because the Twins own a season head-to-head tiebreaker (13-7).

The Tigers finished up their three-game swept over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium on Wednesday night behind another great Tarik Skubal outing.

Skubal, whom many consider to be the front-runner for the American League Cy Young award, struck out seven over five innings, while giving up just one run. On the season, Skubal is 17-4 with a 2.48 ERA and 221 strikeouts.

The Tigers offense added seven hits, including Riley Greene solo home run, quickly followed by a Trey Sweeney 2-run RBI double in the third.

The bullpen ran into a little bit of trouble in the eight-inning when they surrendered a run on a Salvador Perez hit, but ultimately shut the Royals down.

The Tigers open a three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles, who are still battling the New York Yankees for the American League East division title. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at Oriole Park In Camden Yards in Baltimore.

The Tigers will start Keider Montero, who is 6-6 with a 4.60 ERA on the season. The Orioles will throw out Corbin Burnes, who is at the top of their rotation with a 14-8 record and 3.06 ERA on the season.

The Twins, (80-73), meanwhile, head to Boston to play the Red Sox, who are still trying to crawl themselves back into the wild card picture. The Red Sox enter Friday four games back of the Twins and Tigers.

After the weekend series with the Orioles, the Tigers host the Tampa Bay Rays and Chicago White Sox, while the Twins play the Miami Marlins and the Orioles.