Less than 24 hours after the Red Sox sealed their postseason berth, the Tigers claimed at least a wild card. Detroit still could win the AL Central title but needs a victory Sunday at Boston and a Cleveland loss to Texas.
Kyle Montero and four relievers held Boston to seven hits. Tyler Holton (6-5) got four outs for the win and Will Vest pitched the ninth for his 23rd save.
The Tigers (87-74) led the division by 14 games in July and still held a 9 1/2-game lead on Sept. 11 before losses in 12 out of 14 games dropped them into a tie with Cleveland (86-74). The Guardians, who were in fourth place and 15 1/2 games back on July 8, are 17-4 since Sept. 5 and hold the head-to-head tiebreaker against Detroit after winning their season series.
Key moment
With two on and two out and one run already in, David Hamilton sent a checked-swing blooper toward left field, but Detroit shortstop Javier Báez made a leaping catch to save a run.
Key stat
Red Sox rookie Connelly Early (1-2) gave up a leadoff single to Jones before retiring the next 13 batters. The 25-year-old lefty, making his fourth career start, allowed two runs and four hits in five innings.
Up next
The Red Sox are expected to go with a bullpen game Sunday in the regular-season finale. Detroit had ace Tarik Skubal (13-6) lined up for that game but will save him instead for the postseason opener Tuesday.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.