MLB announces ALDS start times and dates for Tigers-Guardians series

The Tigers will get to bask in the afterglow of their Thursday night Wild Card win over the Astros for a couple days (and come down from the hangovers), but they'll be back in action soon enough. The grind starts up again on Saturday, and Detroit needs to bounce back a little better than they did against the White Sox for their last regular season series of the year after clinching their Wild Card spot.

The next stop is the ALDS, and Detroit will be facing a familiar foe in the Cleveland Guardians. Even though the Astros' postseason prowess is well-known, the Guardians present even more of a challenge. The Guardians were completely untouchable atop the AL Central pretty much all year, even touting the best record in baseball for a spell. They've never had to worry about their place in the postseason.

The Tigers, to their credit, did put up a good fight against them during the regular season. Over four series against them, Detroit went 6-7, and they're familiar with Cleveland's game.

The ALDS will kick off on Saturday in Cleveland and all games will air on TBS.

Tigers-Guardians ALDS full schedule, dates, times

The Guardians will host the first two games before things go back go back to Comerica for Game 3 and a potential Game 4. A potential decisive Game 5 will take place in Cleveland.

It seems as though the Tigers are getting the short end of the stick again in terms of timing; a Saturday afternoon game isn't such a big deal, but another weekday day game on Monday is definitely a scheduling slight on MLB's part. Hopefully, when the Tigers come back home, things will move closer to primetime, but that does feel a little unlikely when the Yankees are playing the Royals on the other side of the bracket.

Still, Houston crowds showed up to Minute Maid for the Wild Card, and Detroit crowds should do the same at Comerica. (Progressive Field is also just two and a half hours from Comerica by car. Just saying.)

If the Tigers are fighting for their lives in Game 3 (but let's hope they aren't), then they deserve to do it front of a home crowd that might be able to infuse them with more life to stay alive. Or they could just take it all in Games 3 or 4 at Comerica — that'd be cool too.