Boston — As the champagne was sprayed and the players, huddled in the middle of the cramped visitors clubhouse at Fenway Park, hopping up and down, singing country songs and dousing any and all who came in their path — including owner Chris Ilitch, president Scott Harris and even broadcaster Dan Dickerson — manager AJ Hinch huddled with his beat reporters off in a drier corner of the room.
“We’ve been carrying a lot with us over the last month-plus,” he said. “I think it’s been hard, it’s been taxing. I think you’re going to see a lot of guys mentally relax and physically get a reset by the energy that’s provided by the postseason. There’s only six teams they let in on each side.
“I need to remind these guys of that. You’ve got to earn your way here.”
The Tigers are in.
Regardless of their angst-ridden ride through the end of August and through September — going on a 27-40 slide and squandering the division title and a first-round bye — they are going to the postseason for the second straight season.
The Tigers secured a spot in the wild-card round Saturday, holding off the Boston Red Sox, 2-1, at Fenway Park.
“I don’t think any of that other stuff matters,” Riley Greene said. “What matters is we won tonight and we’re here. Once you get to October, nothing else matters.”
It’s not truly a collapse if you are still standing, right?
“It’s hard to close out games and it’s hard to close out seasons,” Hinch said. “But this team stayed together. That’s the most important thing that happened during the stretch of games when we struggled. We never turned our back on one another. That’s the definition of a team.”
There was, Saturday night, still a chance the Tigers could win the Central Division. But the most likely scenario is the Tigers finish as the sixth seed and play at Cleveland on Tuesday.
“I’m so proud of these players, the resiliency they showed,” said Ilitch, who was pushed into the champagne shower by catcher Jake Rogers. “It’s a long baseball season. There’s going to be ups and there’s going to be downs. And we had a lot of ups and we had some downs. But here we are.
“We were able to power on through and we’re back in the postseason two years in a row. That’s pretty special.”
It was fitting that the sum-of-their-parts Tigers got contributions in the clinching game from a wide array of parts. Starting with Jahmai Jones, who provided the lone offensive spark Saturday.
His leadoff single in the first inning was the only mark on Boston rookie lefty Connelly Early’s line through the first four innings.
BOX SCORE: Tigers 2, Red Sox 1
The Tigers were down 1-0 when he came to bat again in the fifth with the bases loaded and two outs and ripped a single to left, scoring a pair of runs.
“This feeling is amazing,” said Jones, who came to spring training as a non-roster invitee and fought his way onto the roster in June and never left. “That fact I am able to contribute in any way, shape or form to this ballclub is all that I can ask for.
“It’s amazing to be part of this group. I said it in spring training, it’s a special group and I truly believe that. AJ gave me a runway and I’m just trying to do the best of my ability to fill that role.”
Jones has produced five hits, including two doubles and homer, with five RBIs in the last three games.
And with Boston manager Alex Cora bringing one left-handed pitcher after another at the Tigers to keep lefty slugger Kerry Carpenter and Zach McKinstry on the bench, the production from Jones has been vital.
“We keep preaching to our guys that if you just do your job, whatever is asked of you, it’s going to help the team win,” Hinch said. “Part of Carp’s job today was to keep their right-handed relievers in the pen and give Jahmai that opportunity and continue to put pressure on them even when you are on the bench.
“That’s a way to contribute to a win.”
Javier Báez, who was recovering from surgery last season and could only be a spectator for the Tigers’ run last year, contributed in a more direct fashion. He made a run-saving catch in the second inning (more on that in a minute), but also, with a Matrix-like slide at home plate, he eluded the tag on what ended up the winning run.
“Every run is huge right now,” he said. “I don’t consider myself fast. I know how to run the bases really good, though. I stayed inside the lane and as soon I saw the catcher go out of the lane, I went inside and I just got to it.”
It was also another gutsy send by third-base coach Joey Cora.
“We’ve been doing that all year,” Harris said. “More often than not, you’re going to cash in the run and that was one of the biggest runs of the season.”
Credit, too, the contribution of the Tigers’ bullpen, which certainly had its struggles this past month.
“Our pen was drained coming in,” Harris said. “We didn’t have everybody available for the roles we wanted them. But the guys who pitched really stepped up. … We’ve got to be able to throw different looks at our opponents.”
Right-hander Keider Montero was tasked with getting through the top half of the Red Sox lineup, which was without Jarren Duran, Trevor Story and Alex Bregman. Mission accomplished, with a massive assist from Báez.
Montero allowed a run with seven strikeouts in 4.1 innings. The run came on a two-out single by No. 9 hitter Nick Sogard in the second inning.
Báez prevented a second run from scoring in that inning, making a sensational diving catch on a checked-swing blooper in short left field by left-handed hitting David Hamilton.
“What a play,” Harris said. “Oh my goodness, what a play.”
Báez was shaded up the middle but got a good jump and made the catch on a full-extension dive.
“Javy’s catch is probably the single-handed most important play of the game because of where we were,” Hinch said. “We would have fallen behind 2-0 and it would have been a tough hill to climb.”
Initially, Baez didn’t think he had a shot at it.
“Honestly, I was trying to do my timing good and take that first step good,” he said. “As soon as he hit it, I felt like an outfielder chasing the ball. I just went for it. I didn’t think I was going to get to it. But I went for it and I got it.”
A fleet of Tigers relievers closed the game out: Brant Hurter (one inning), Rafael Montero (1.1 innings), Tyler Holton (1.1 innings) and Will Vest, who dispatched the Red Sox in the ninth and earned his 23rd save.
And the celebration was on, not dulled one bit by the late-season struggles.
“It’s been a challenging month for us,” Harris said. “We came into September with expectations that this organization hasn’t felt in a long time, with a group that’s a lot younger than a lot of people think. We had some bumps in the road.
“But I can’t tell you how proud I am of this group for picking themselves up off the mat, winning two of the last three when they really had to and put us in a really good position heading into next week.”
@cmccosky
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