The Tigers have nine games left in the regular season to secure the franchise's first playoff berth in a decade

With the Minnesota Twins' loss to the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday afternoon, the Tigers (80-73) and Twins have identical records for the third wild-card position. However, the Twins own the season head-to-head tiebreaker over the Tigers, so the Tigers will need to finish with a better record.

With Thursday’s loss, Minnesota fell to (80-73) on the season, matching Detroit. Both AL Central rivals will now head east for weekend road series. The Tigers will play three games in Baltimore against the Orioles and the Twins will be in Boston to take on the Red Sox.