Who do the Detroit Tigers play in the playoffs in 2025?

The Tigers will play the Cleveland Guardians in the MLB playoffs for a postseason rematch from last October. This time, the series will be in the wild-card round.

The matchup, start times and dates are set after the Tigers lost to the Boston Red Sox, 4-3, on Sunday at Fenway Park to finish as the 6-seed in the American League playoff bracket, losing the AL Central Division title with a historic collapse.

The Tigers (87-75) led the Guardians (88-74) by 9½ games on Sept. 10 with 16 to play (Cleveland had 17), but finished 3-13, while Cleveland went 14-3.

The Tigers vs. Guardians playoff schedule in the 2025 AL wild-card series begins with Game 1 on Tuesday afternoon at Progressive Field in Cleveland.

It’s a best-of-three series with all games in Cleveland. The Tigers went 3-2 on the road in the 2024 playoffs.

Tarik Skubal will start Game 1 for the Tigers on six days rest (two extra days). His last start came Tuesday, Sept. 23 in Cleveland. The Tigers went 1-1 in Skubal’s three playoff starts last season. They went 21-10 this season in Skubal’s 31 starts.

The Tigers lost to the Guardians in a winner-take-all Game 5 in the ALDS last season. The Tigers went 1-2 on the road in that series, losing 7-0 in Game 1, winning 3-0 in Game 2 and losing Game 5, 7-3.

The Tigers went 2-0 in a thrilling 2024 wild-card series at the Houston Astros, winning 3-1 in Game 1 and 5-2 in Game 2.

Here is the Tigers-Guardians playoff schedule for the wild-card series.

Tigers vs Guardians playoff schedule 2025

Best-of-three series; *if necessary

Game 1, Tuesday, Sept. 30: Tigers at Guardians, 1:08 p.m., ESPNGame 2, Wednesday, Oct. 1: Tigers at Guardians, 1:08 p.m., ESPN*Game 3, Thursday, Oct. 2: Tigers at Guardians, 1:08 p.m., ESPN

The winner will play at the 2-seed Seattle Mariners in the ALDS.

ALDS schedule for Tigers/Guardians winner at Mariners

Best-of-five series; *if necessary

Game 1, Saturday, Oct. 4: Tigers/Guardians winner at Mariners, time TBA, Fox/FS1Game 2, Sunday, Oct. 5: Tigers/Guardians winner at Mariners, time TBA, Fox/FS1Game 3, Tuesday, Oct. 7: Mariners at Tigers/Guardians winner, time TBA, Fox/FS1*Game 4, Wednesday, Oct. 8: Mariners at Tigers/Guardians winner, time TBA, Fox/FS1*Game 5, Friday, Oct. 10: Tigers/Guardians winner at Mariners, time TBA, Fox/FS1MLB playoff bracket 2025AL playoff bracket

Standings via USA TODAY Sports:

1. Blue Jays, 94-682. Mariners, 90-723. Guardians, 88-744. Yankees, 94-685. Red Sox, 89-736. Tigers, 87-75

MLB PLAYOFFS: Schedule, bracket, start times, dates, TV for each series

Tigers vs Guardians playoff history

The Tigers and Guardians did not meet in the MLB playoffs in the first 122 years of their shared history as charter members of the American League.

The clubs will now meet for the second consecutive season in the playoffs.

Here are the results from the Tigers-Guardians playoff series in the 2024 ALDS:

Game 1, Oct. 5: Guardians, 7, Tigers 0 in ClevelandGame 2, Oct. 7: Tigers 3, Guardians 0 in ClevelandGame 3, Oct. 9: Tigers 3, Guardians 0 in DetroitGame 4, Oct. 10: Guardians 5, Tigers 4 in DetroitGame 5, Oct. 12: Guardians 7, Tigers 3 in Cleveland

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Marlowe Alter is an Assistant Sports Editor at the Detroit Free Press. Email him at: malter@freepress.com.