The Tigers accomplished a lot on their homestand. Despite a 3-1 loss to the New York Mets at Comerica Park on Sunday afternoon, the Tigers finished their nine games with a 7-2 record.
With it, the Tigers have now won 10 of their last 12 games.
Officially, they are back in the playoff race. It's something most probably thought was just a pipe-dream.
But, as good as their hot streak was, it didn't get them into the playoffs. In fact, if the season ended on Sunday, the Tigers would be on the outside looking in.
Right now, Toronto and Boston still hold both AL wild card spots. The Tigers trail the Indians by two games for the Central Division.
The next test is out West. Manager Brad Ausmus' team heads to Seattle to start a six-game road trip, starting tonight.
First up is a tall order. They face Hisashi Iwakuma (12-7, 3.99 ERA). He has been gold, boasting a seven-game home win streak. He last lost in Seattle on April 27th.
The Tigers, meanwhile, are looking for rookie stud Michael Fulmer to continue pitching well. In his last six starts, he's 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA.
Yes, the Tigers have dug themselves out of a big hole, a hole they never should have been in given their roster and a $200-million payroll.
But here we are. The Tigers (61-50) have no excuses. They have enough talent to at least compete.
"We've kind of found our niche," Justin Upton said. "We're playing really good baseball and guys know what we're capable of doing.
"We just got to continue to do that."
That includes the good pitching the team has gotten the last two weeks. And maybe, Anibal Sanchez is finally getting back to being the talented starter he was a few years ago.
Granted, the Mets aren't an offensive juggernaut. But in eight strong innings of work, Sanchez allowed just one run on four hits. He walked none and struck out 10.
"There's no question it was his best outing of the year," Ausmus said. "If he could continue to pitch like that, it would be a big boost to our rotation."
Even during this stretch, it's still hard to ignore the pitching staff, especially the starters.
Jordan Zimmermann's return to the disabled list on Saturday is troublesome. Zimmermann pitched Thursday in his first start back from a neck problem. He was pulled in the second inning with a lat muscle issue. Zimmermann was terrible in the start.
For the season, he's 9-5 with a 4.44 ERA. The Tigers aren't sure they will be able to count on him from here on out. It's a major blow to the rotation.
The Tigers were questioned about whether Zimmermann was rushed back. "You can't force a player to go on another rehab start," Ausmus said. "We take him at his word."
Also the loss of Nick Castellanos is another blow the Tigers will have to overcome. Castellanos sustained a non-displaced fracture of the fifth metacarpal bone on his left hand in Saturday night's 6-5 win over the Mets when he was hit by a pitch. He will be sidelined for 4-6 weeks.
"We're looking really at some point in early September that we'd get him back," Ausmus said.
Veteran Casey McGehee was called up from Triple-A Toledo. Still, he won't be able to fill the void left by Castellanos, who was having a breakout season - batting .286 with 18 homers and 58 RBI.
But, plenty of teams are dealing with injuries and you just have to work your way through it. To the Tigers' credit, it's the best we've seen them play since they were 10 games over .500 at the end of the 2014 season.
The bottom line remains that the Tigers weren't as bad as they were when they lost seven in a row and 11 of 12 back in early May. And, they aren't as good as they have been on this current stretch that started with a three-game sweep in Boston to end a road trip.
Clearly, they are somewhere in the middle. And ultimately, it won't be enough to get them where they want to be - a postseason berth.
Other than that, enjoy the team's resurgence. It's always fun to win.
