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"He who laughs last, laughs best." — Old proverb
Detroit Tigers photo
As the 2025 regular season was in the final stretch, Detroit's nemesis, the Cleveland Guardians, went on a tear, winning game after game and closing in on knocking the slumping Tigers out of first place. In the final game of the regular season, Cleveland delivered the final blow—grabbing first place and leaving the Tigers one game back.
But then came the playoffs, and the Tigers returned the favor—humiliating the Guardians with a 2–1 series win, capped by a 6–3 victory Thursday at Progressive Field. The Tigers now advance to face Seattle on the west coast on Saturday at 8:38 p.m.in the best-of-five series. No more nail-biting moments when José Ramírez or Steven Kwan step to the plate or reach base. The Guardians are done for 2025.
Over the three games this week, the Tigers got strong pitching from starters Tarik Skubal, Casey Mize, and Jack Flaherty. The bats were quiet—until the top of the seventh on Thursday, when Detroit strung together five hits and plated four runs, giving the Tigers something they hadn’t felt in a while: a little breathing room.
The win eased the sting of Cleveland stealing the division title. It also undercut Tigers General Manager Scott Harris, who had essentially bet against his own club at the trade deadline, picking up mediocre players and assuming the team wouldn’t go far anyway.
“Momentum—I feel like the momentum in the series was the biggest thing,” catcher Dillon Dingler said, according to the Detroit News. “The team with the most momentum was the one that was going to carry on. We were able to flip it right there, and we had a huge seventh inning—able to score some runs and be in the driver’s seat a little bit. It was a big one.”
The Tigers will return to Comerica Park for Game 3 against Seattle, and if necessary, Game 4. A Game 5 would be played in Seattle.
