The Tigers have a crucial upcoming schedule. They are coming off winning 2 of 3 games at home against the LA Angels, bouncing back from a dissapointing series versus a very shorthanded Minnesota Twins team who had sold away all but 2 players with contractual obligations beyond this season. Detroit is currently 68-51 and hold a slim 5 game lead that has dwindled down quite a bit in a month’s time.

The next two series will be on the road against divisional foes The Chicago White Sox and then on to Target Field to face the Minnesota Twins. Chicago is once again in the cellar of the AL Central, but is much improved from their historically poor year in 2024. Detroit only managed to split with them in their last meeting, and young players such as Lenyn Sosa and Luis Robert will hope to play spoilers in their second to last time seeing Detroit this season. As previously stated the Twins were without their top player Byron Buxton and have traded away their two best high leverage relievers and their Veteran shortstop Carlos Correya. Inspire of that they managed to outscore Detroit 18-13, exploiting their assortment of bullpen arms that remain unstable.

The third series Detroit will return home and play host to the Houston Astros who currently hold a half of a game lead over the surging Seattle Mariners. Houston was defeated by the Tigers in the Wild Card Series last year, but has had Detroit’s number this year winning 2 out of 3 in Houston back in April. Houston has dealt with a large number of injuries to positional players, during the deadline orchestrated a reunion between them and the aforementioned Carlos Correya to replace the injured Isaac Paredes, whom they acquired in the Kyle Tucker deal this offseason. These upcoming 3 games versus Houston will be crucial for Detroit, not just in staying ahead of Cleveland, but also in keeping pace with the top teams in the American League. Detroit currently has 1.5 game edge on Houston in that department.