Atlanta – Six months ago, the Tigers left spring training in Lakeland, Fla., for Miami and Opening Day against the Marlins. Even then there was a sense Detroit’s big-league baseball team was stretching hopes and dreams. That while a playoff push was an obligation, the Tigers were a tad thin, particularly on the pitching side, to be a heavy World Series contender in 2016.
A team believed differently.
And it believed until Sunday, when, after a torture-rack of a season filled with frustrations and players piled onto the disabled list, with winning streaks that seemed always to be matched by tailspins, the Braves ended Detroit’s playoff push and season with a gut-shredding 1-0 victory over the Tigers at Turner Field.