Detroit – The Tigers gain a lead in the final sprint for a place in the play-offs.
With inclement weather forecast for Tuesday night, the Tigers have announced they will move the game up to 1:10 p.m. The series opener against the Tampa Bay Rays was scheduled to start at 6:40 p.m.
“The decision was made to find the best opportunity to play the game,” the Tigers said in a statement Monday evening.
Fans who purchased tickets for Tuesday night’s game can use the same tickets for the new time. If fans are unable to attend the game because it has been moved to the afternoon, tickets can be exchanged for one of the other five remaining regular-season games, based on availability, the Tigers said.
The Tigers have three games against the Rays from Tuesday to Thursday, followed by three games against the Chicago White Sox from Friday to Sunday. Games still start at 6:40 p.m. Wednesday and 1:10 p.m. Thursday.
The Tigers, along with the Rays and Major League Baseball, have decided to move up Tuesday’s game. The last thing the Tigers want to do is risk having Tuesday’s game canceled because of rain, which would push top starter Tarik Skubal’s start to one of the games of a likely doubleheader on Wednesday. That scenario could prevent Skubal from pitching in Sunday’s final regular-season game against the Chicago White Sox, where a playoff spot may be at stake.
Detroit enters the final week of the regular season with a one-game lead over the Minnesota Twins to clinch the third and final wild-card spot in the American League. Fangraphs gives the Tigers a better than 70% chance of making the postseason for the first time since 2014, up from less than 1% chances in mid-August.
The Tigers have just won five of six games on a road trip through Kansas City and Baltimore, the teams ahead of them in the wild-card standings.
@tonypaul1984
