An American League Central Division that seemed to be tightly entrenched in Detroit’s grip for the bulk of this season may be slipping away from the Tigers.
OK, Detroit still has a six-game lead on Cleveland, even after the Guardians completed a sweep of the New York Mets on Wednesday, while the Tigers dropped a 9-4 game to the Twins to lose the three-game series in Detroit.
But losing two out of three to a club that just traded half its roster less than a week ago certainly isn’t ideal for the division leaders, who’ve now dropped 16 of their last 23 bouts.
The scariest thing for Detroit had to be the manner in which the three games played out. The Tigers were largely outclassed by what’s left of this Twins’ roster outside of one inning from Noah Davis, who’s no longer with the major league club.
Wednesday was no exception.
Making his second major league appearance since 2023, Thomas Hatch came on in relief of Pierson Ohl and threw 4 1/3 innings of two-hit ball, and Kody Funderburk and Brooks Kriske each threw a scoreless frame to slam the door on the series victory on a day where Minnesota roughed up another Tigers starter.
Jack Flaherty didn’t survive five innings Wednesday, surrendering eight hits and five earned runs. Luke Keaschall hit a pair of doubles to knock in three runs as the 22-year-old has roared out of the gates since returning to the majors. Alan Roden, Brooks Lee and Austin Martin all hit homers on a day in which the Twins pounded out 11 hits.
The Twins logged 20 hits combined over their past two games in Detroit against a Tigers pitching staff that, outside of vaunted ace Tarik Skubal, is struggling to get anyone out.
Casey Mize is a success story, but he has struggled mightily over the past month. Flaherty hasn’t been good enough. Chris Paddack is not a solution. And Detroit’s bullpen is a liability. The Tigers’ hope at this point is that Reese Olson can return in time for the playoffs, and that he’s effective when he does so.
Can these Tigers simply hang on over the final two months of the season to win a downtrodden division? Avoiding a cataclysmic collapse seems to be about the ceiling for Detroit at the moment.
The Tigers’ free fall is a reminder that divisional title hopes are never as far fetched as you may believe in the American League Central, where no one is great, and nearly all success is short-lived.
The Twins bowed out of this year’s hunt via their tumble and transactions over the past few weeks. But even as currently constructed, they don’t appear to be far off the standard required to compete in this undercard race that lacks a true runaway stallion.
A few young, talented hitters and pillars such as Byron Buxton, Pablo Lopez and Joe Ryan equates to about as much as anyone else has to offer. As dire as the future looked for this organization a week ago — and it’s certainly not beaming — perhaps contention may not be as far away as initially perceived.
That’s something that should be on the minds of fans, the front office and ownership — whoever that includes at the time — this offseason.
Long live the AL Central, where mediocrity breeds eternal optimism.
Luke Keaschall #15 of the Minnesota Twins hits a RBI double in the fifth inning while playing the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on Aug. 06, 2025 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
Minnesota Twins pitcher Thomas Hatch throws against the Detroit Tigers in the fifth inning during a baseball game Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
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