Blame Christopher Ilitch, Scott Harris for Detroit Tigers’ collapse
On “Days of Roar,” Evan Petzold and Chris Brown evaluate who to blame for the Detroit Tigers’ collapse, highlighting Chris Ilitch and Scott Harris.
BOSTON — “Come on, C.I.”
Detroit Tigers owner Christopher Ilitch — summoned by right-handed reliever Will Vest — joined the celebration in the middle of the visitor’s clubhouse Saturday, Sept. 27, after the Tigers’ 2-1 win over the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park clinched a spot in the 2025 MLB postseason.
Ilitch flipped down his goggles and walked toward the crowd.
The players gave him a beer shower.
He raised his arms in the air.
“That doesn’t get old, I’ll tell you that,” Ilitch said. “It’s a long baseball season. There are going to be ups, and there are going to be downs. We had a lot of ups, and we had some downs, but here we are. We’re back in the postseason — two years in a row.”
During the celebration, the players, the manager, the president of baseball operations and the owner didn’t shy away from acknowledging where the Tigers came from, but they chose to focus on where they’re going.
Just ask the ace of the Tigers.
“The whole goal of the season is to get to the postseason,” said left-hander Tarik Skubal, who will start Tuesday in Game 1 of the wild-card series, “and we were able to accomplish that. Now that we’re in, nothing that’s happened over the last six months matters.”
The postseason doesn’t care that the Tigers nearly collapsed, limping to the finish line. The postseason doesn’t care that the Tigers dropped the ball at the trade deadline. The postseason doesn’t care that the Tigers haven’t won the World Series since 1984, falling short in 2006 and 2012.
Anything can happen once you’re in the playoffs.
“Everybody is going to start 0-0 whenever the games start,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “Obviously, I’m going to sell that because of the way we’ve come. Our guys earned this celebration, and because of how good we were for the majority of the season, we were able to withstand a really tough stretch.”
Nobody shied away from the struggles recently.
But the slate has been wiped clean.
“It’s been difficult,” president of baseball operations Scott Harris said, when asked how the near collapse affected him. “In these jobs, you learn how to bend not break. This young group also learned how to bend not break this year.”
To clinch a postseason berth, the Tigers needed positive contributions — and received exactly that — from several players in a 2-1 win over the Red Sox.
Among them: Keider Montero allowed one run across 4â…“ innings in the biggest start of his career; Brant Hurter, Rafael Montero, Tyler Holton and Vest combined for 4â…” scoreless innings out of the bullpen, surrendering just two hits; Jahmai Jones delivered a two-run single in the fifth inning, but that wouldn’t have happened if not for Javier Báez‘s single and Parker Meadows‘ four-pitch walk, both with two outs.
“We are the sum-of-the-parts type of team,” Hinch said. “We do need everybody. We used over 50 players this season to get to where we’re at right now. It feels good when you can compliment so many players on a daily basis.”
The biggest play of the game came from the most unlikely contributor in the second inning, as Báez saved a run when he sprinted from shortstop and made an highlight-reel diving catch in shallow left field. The catch stranded runners on the corners.
The Tigers might not have clinched without Báez’s heroics.
He is focused on the future, too.
“I told all the boys: This is the beginning of the end,” Báez said. “This is when we got to get it locked in and play the rest of the games as a team and try to win as much as we can.”
There is one game remaining in the regular season.
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The Tigers have won just three of their past 15 games — and nine of 30. The offense has sputtered with strikeouts, the starting rotation has been decimated by underperformance and the bullpen has only a few reliable relievers. Since July 9, the Tigers have gone 28-40.
None of that matters anymore.
“All that matters is whenever we get to Game 1,” Skubal said, referencing the best-of-three wild-card series. “Executing that game is all that matters.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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