CHICAGO – The Detroit Tigers’ dream of making the playoffs officially ended on a wet, soggy, miserable evening with little offense and an apparently injured pitcher.
Some might say that any chance for the playoffs ended when they traded Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize at the beginning of August but that’s a discussion for another day.
Either way, it officially, officially ended when the Chicago White Sox beat the Tigers, 8-1, at Rate Field on Sunday, Sept. 20 – the Tigers’ final road game of the season. If you want to know why the Tigers missed the playoffs – in an incredibly disappointing season that started with hopes of the World Series – they finished with a 34-47 road record, their first sub-.500 season on the road since 2022 (30-50).
Cut to the
chase: the Tigers were solid at home (39-36), but just plain awful on the road.
And this felt like a fitting symbol to all that misery.
The game started after a 3-hour, 50-minute rain delay. With just a week left in the regular season and no shared open dates, they had to get this game in because the White Sox are fighting for the playoffs. So, they started in a rainstorm. It looked like it was raining sideways, as fans sat in the stands wearing ponchos and trash bags with holes cut out for the arms and head, and puddles formed around the edges of the field.
Then, it got worse for the Tigers.
On the mound: Troy Melton leaves with apparent injury
Right-hander Troy Melton, who started for the Tigers, was removed with an apparent injury in the fourth inning. The game was stopped as Tigers pitching coach Chris Fetter went out to the mound. Fetter was soon followed by Tigers manager A.J. Hinch and a trainer. Melton then was taken out with the White Sox holding a 3-0 lead, although Melton showed no signs of injury. Left-hander Tyler Holton was brought in.
Melton threw 3⅔ innings, giving up four hits and four runs. He struck out four while walking three.
Melton, 25, was diagnosed in late February with right elbow inflammation. He went on the 60-day injured list and returned to action May 24.
“I feel really good,” Melton said Saturday. “Honestly, like health-wise, it's been a really good year for me. Obviously, I started hurt, but even throughout my rehab process, I never really felt like I was injured. I was just kind of building back up. So health-wise, it's been great for me this year. ... It's been really good.
Expected to be one of the core starting pitchers for the Tigers next season and beyond, Melton carried an impressive stat into this game. He had a 2.60 ERA in his first 23 career starts dating to July 2025, the lowest ERA by a Tiger pitcher in his first 23 starts since Mark Fidrych in 1976 (2.37 ERA). But he had struggled of late. In his previous three starts, he gave up 11 earned runs off 18 hits, six walks and hit three batters.
But he said health was not the issue.
“When I try too hard, it's usually the wrong direction,” he said on Saturday. “So just kind of being out there and being myself and slowing the game down a little bit better and really like obviously one of these games and I want to win every game of pitching, but not making it too much pressure, too big of a deal. I think that's something I've kind of gotten away from.”
After Melton and Horton's departure, the White Sox scored two runs off Ty Madden off two hits to make it 6-0.
The Tigers scored in the top of the eighth inning when Riley Greene hit a double, Eduardo Valencia singled and Max Clark hit a sac fly. But the White Sox slammed the door on the Tigers by scoring two runs off lefty Brant Hurter in the eighth, with two hits and two walks.
Looking ahead: Tigers focus heading forward
So, what do the Tigers have to play for now, heading into a six-game homestand that will feature the debut of River Ryan on Monday and the career finale for Justin Verlander on Saturday? As Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said, a lot.
“When seasons start to wind down and you are on the outside looking in, there's a tendency to think that everything is over, and it's not,” Hinch said before the game. “We are too talented and too driven to simply just show up and play a scrimmage the next seven or eight days. That's not how we're going to operate. So, mentally, we need to keep ourselves sharp, and we need to execute. Nobody wants to finish their season on the downslide.
Next up: River Ryan's debut
Right-handed pitcher River Ryan, one of the players the Tigers got in the Tarik Skubal trade Aug. 1 with the Los Angeles Dodgers – and the organization's No. 3 prospect – will make his Tigers debut Monday (6:40 p.m., Detroit SportsNet) at Comerica Park against the Washington Nationals.
Ryan, 28, will start Monday night and Keider Montero will also pitch in the game.
Ryan is the Tigers' top pitching prospect, per MLB Pipeline. He pitched four MLB games for the Dodgers in 2024, going 1-0 with a 1.33 ERA in 20⅓ innings.
Ryan, at 6 feet 2 and 195 pounds, has pitched two games with Triple-A Toledo since the trade, although he covered just 4⅔ innings coming off a hamstring injury.
“He's very talented,” Hinch said. “The next test for him is to come and hopefully get a couple outings over the course of the week, albeit shorter than a normal start. He's using his pitches. He's recovering fine. He's throwing his normal bullpens, and of course, we want to get him around our team. And because we expect him to be a big part of what we're doing moving forward. He's been in the big leagues before, so it's not like a debut, but it will feel like it, given you know he's brand new to the organization.”
Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on X @seideljeff.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers playoff hopes end with soggy spanking in Chicago
