DETROIT — The Tigers didn’t do their part on Saturday.

By losing to the Minnesota Twins, the Detroit Tigers lost all chance of clinching their fourth straight American League Central Division title Saturday night, a bitter pill to swallow when the White Sox held off the Royals an hour later.

“It’s frustrating, for sure. Today was almost a carbon copy of yesterday. A couple defensive mistakes, we didn’t pitch well, and you’re in such a deep hole that it’s tough to climb out of,” manager Brad Ausmus said after the game. “I wasn’t concerned at all going into the game today that something like that would happen again. I’m a little surprised by it but again, we can’t do anything about it now.

“We got a game tomorrow that we gotta win, I mean, we gotta win.”

But that Royals loss kept the Tigers’ cushion at one game, and dropped the magic number to one, as well.

That means the Tigers still hold their destiny in their hands, going into Sunday afternoon’s regular-season finale.

A win or a Kansas City, and they’re division champs again — either one would do.

Otherwise, the two teams are headed for a Game 163 tiebreaker on Monday.

“We’ve got a chance to be a 90-win team, and that’s a big deal,” said Alex Avila, discounting that anything needed to be said. “We’re grown men here. We know the situation. It’s not like ‘Hey, tomorrow’s a big game!’ Well, no (crap).”

If they don’t win Sunday’s game, though, there’s a fall-back.

The Tigers essentially have three straight home games — the regular-season finale on Sunday, a potential Game 163 on Monday, and a potential Wild Card game on Tuesday — to get the one win that would send them to the AL Division Series.

And, they’ll have the last three AL Cy Young winners — David Price (Sunday), Justin Verlander (Monday) and Max Scherzer (Tuesday) — on the mound to try to make that happen.


Here are the American League scenarios headed into Sunday’s games:

The Tigers (89-72), Royals (88-73), Athletics (87-74) and Mariners (86-75) are all still alive for three postseason berths. The Tigers have clinched no worse than a Game 163 tiebreaker, and the Royals have clinched no worse than the top Wild Card.

Baltimore (95-66) and the Los Angeles Angels (98-63) have clinched their respective divisions. The Angels have already cinched up home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.


OUTCOME 1
Tigers win, finish 90-72
Royals win, finish 89-73
A’s win, finish 88-74
Mariners win, finish 87-75

Result: Tigers win the AL Central, and head to Baltimore for the ALDS, starting Thursday. Royals host A’s in the Wild Card Tuesday. Mariners are eliminated.

OUTCOME 2
Tigers lose, finish 89-73
Royals win, finish 89-73
A’s win, finish 88-74
Mariners win, finish 87-75

Result: Tigers host Royals for Game 163 tiebreaker on Monday. Winner takes the AL Central, and heads to Baltimore for the ALDS, starting Thursday. Loser hosts A’s in the Wild Card Tuesday. Mariners are eliminated.

OUTCOME 3
Tigers lose, finish 89-73
Royals win, finish 89-73
A’s lose, finish 87-75
Mariners win, finish 87-75

Result: Tigers host Royals for Game 163 tiebreaker on Monday. Winner takes the AL Central, and heads to Baltimore for the ALDS, starting Thursday. Mariners host A’s for one-game tiebreaker for the second Wild Card slot. Winner visits loser of Detroit-KC playoff in Tuesday’s Wild Card game.


OUTCOME 4
Tigers win, finish 90-73
Royals win (or lose)
A’s lose, finish 87-75
Mariners win, finish 87-75

Result: Tigers win the AL Central, and head to Baltimore for the ALDS, starting Thursday. Mariners host A’s for one-game tiebreaker for the second Wild Card slot. Winner plays at Kansas City in the Wild Card game on Tuesday.