Justin Verlander was superb again
The Detroit Tigers ended their playoff hopes on Sunday, losing 1-0 to the Braves in Atlanta, a last place team that got hot at the tail end of the season. Before Sunday, they had won 11 of their last 13 games.
Justin Verlander pitched great, giving up only one run. But the Tigers' bats were lame.
In the end, the game was meaningless, anyways. The Tigers not only had to win Sunday to keep their playoff hopes alive, but Baltimore or Toronto had to lose. Baltimore ended up beating the Yankees 5-2 and Toronto, after the Tigers already lost, beat Boston 2-1.
Since Cleveland won Sunday and Boston lost, Cleveland gets home field advantage in the playoffs. And there's no need for Cleveland to travel to Detroit to play a makeup game on Monday.
The season started with so much hope. In fact, during spring training, Victor Martinez said it was the best Tigers team he had seen since coming to Detroit in 2011.
It may have been back then, but in the end, they were a team loaded with lots of hitting power that played pretty streaky ball.
There were injuries and losing streaks and talk at one stretch that Tigers Manager Brad Ausmus might not make it through the season. But a nice winning streak calmed those concern and the Tigers showed signs of hope.
Sadly on Sunday, some Detroit fans had hoped to make a quick transition to football season. But as usual, the Lions are not looking too good. They lost 17-14 to the Chicago Bears.
Maybe they can turn to the Pistons or Red Wings for hope.
Meanwhile, the star pitcher tweets:
Thanks to all the fans and my teammates! Tough ending but proud of young guys stepping up for us this year through adversity. #gotigers
— Justin Verlander (@JustinVerlander) October 2, 2016
