AL Wild Card Standings: Hope is still dim, but the Tigers are staying alive

Though the Tigers would never endeavor to intentionally do the Yankees or Guardians any favors, there was still some satisfaction in the fact that they prevented the Blue Jays from gaining ground in the Wild Card race on Cleveland on Monday (and allowed New York to clinch a postseason berth). It sent a message: the Tigers aren't just going to roll over.

Their win on Tuesday was even more encouraging. Drew Anderson threw five scoreless innings, and the offense provided 10 runs in support. Spencer Torkelson stole a base (Spencer Torkelson!), Max Clark continued to hit, Kevin McGonigle walked three times to send his walk-to-strikeout ratio on the season to 91/89. There were contributions from all over the lineup.

It was their latest victory in a six-game winning streak. As all eyes turn to the still very close AL Wild Card standings, there's a wrinkle there. The Tigers aren't going away.

Entering play on Wednesday, they're 72-79, 4.5 games back of the Wild Card with an elimination number of seven. They don't control their own destiny, but with the White Sox losing ground and a four-game series at Rate Field coming up against the Tigers ... there's still a glimmer of something that we'll stop just short of calling hope.

Tigers still hanging around in the AL Wild Card race as White Sox flail

Detroit has nine games left in the season. In a more normal season, fans would simply have to hope that the Tigers would find a way to raise their heads above .500 for the first time since early May, but this year, all bets are off.

If the Tigers can wrap up this series against the Blue Jays with a sweep and take advantage of the White Sox's latest flailing, both the Wild Card and AL Central pictures could look very different by the end of this week.

There is a world in which the Tigers inch closer and closer and are still fighting for a spot in the last weekend of the season, though it feels dangerous to let our minds wander to that possibility too much. They're red-hot right now, and while that's a thrill, they've already shown us that it can disappear in a second.

For now, we can just be happy that they're not ending their season on a completely dour note, and acknowledge that there might be something not too far ahead.

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