The Tigers head to Yankee Stadium for the playoffs, knowing how close they were to winning the AL Central title and opening at home.
Needing one more victory to clinch the division, the sagging Tigers lost their final five games of the season. They wound up with the wild card after Sunday’s disappointment — wasting a six-run lead and then watching All-Star starter Kenny Rogers lose in relief 10-8 to the last-place Royals in 12 innings.
The loss, combined with the Twins’ 5-1 win over the White Sox, gave the Twins the division title.
“We got beat,” Tigers center fielder and former Illinois-Chicago star Curtis Granderson said. “Kansas City played great. They outhit us, they outscored us and we ended up getting swept.”
The Tigers loaded the bases with one out in the 11th, but Brandon Inge and Granderson both struck out.
In the 12th, Esteban German’s RBI single and Emil Brown’s bases-loaded walk off Rogers won it for the Royals.
The Tigers jumped out to a 6-0 lead after three innings aided by Inge’s two-run homer.
The Royals crawled back into the game and tied it 7-7 on Inge’s throwing error in the eighth, which allowed Paul Phillips to score. David DeJesus’ two-out, bases-loaded infield hit gave the Royals an 8-7 edge.
Former Cub and Royal Matt Stairs hit a pinch homer off Scott Dohmann for an 8-8 tie.
Extra innings
The A’s Frank Thomas has hit 235 of his 487 homers as a designated hitter, tying former White Sox teammate Harold Baines for second on baseball’s career list. The Mariners’ Edgar Martinez hit 243 homers as a DH. . . . The Mariners’ Kenji Johjima singled in the ninth inning for his 147th hit, setting an AL record for hits by a rookie catcher. Buck Rodgers had 146 for the Angels in 1962.
