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Tigers to play makeup Monday, if needed
- Updated: September 30, 2016
DETROIT — The Tigers and Indians waited all day Thursday for a chance to wrap up their series at Comerica Park. The rain never let up.
By the end of the day, it was a rare amount of rain falling around downtown Detroit. The resulting postponement sets up a potentially crazy stretch of games for the Tigers, depending on the American League Wild Card race.
The game will be made up on Monday if it carries postseason implications, either for Detroit in the Wild Card race or Cleveland for postseason seeding. Given the status of the races, there’s a good chance it will.
As a result of a clarification that became effective for this season, Major League Baseball requires all 162 games to be played if a game impacts seeding/home-field advantage for the postseason. If a game would have no impact on seeding/home-field advantage, then it would not be required to be played.
If a game proves necessary in any way — for either club or for seeding purposes — then it will be rescheduled for Monday.
The Tigers entered Thursday a game behind the Orioles for the second AL Wild Card position, and two games behind the Blue Jays for the top Wild Card spot. Unless Baltimore’s lead widens to two games at end of play Sunday, or Detroit goes up multiple games by sweeping Atlanta while the O’s lost out, then the club will have to play Monday.
Meanwhile, Cleveland entered Thursday trailing Boston by a game for the AL’s second-best record, meaning the Indians would open the AL Division Series at the Red Sox if the season ended today. That, too, would necessitate a makeup game if the Tribe ends the season within a game either way of a seed change.
If Cleveland is a half-game behind Texas or Boston for seeding purposes after Sunday’s game, there would be no point in playing a makeup game, because both Texas and Boston hold tiebreakers over Cleveland. However, if Cleveland is a half-game ahead of either of those teams after Sunday’s games, then Cleveland would have to play at Detroit on Monday — and win the game in order to preserve home field in that scenario. That’s a result of Cleveland …
