Twenty minutes into the biggest home game of the Detroit Tigers’ season to date and they were still on the field in the first half of the first inning.
Kansas City had no outs.
And four runs.
Brad Ausmus dejectedly sauntered to the pitcher’s mound, head bowed, appreciative of the urgency of the moment. It was time for a prematurely early call to the bullpen. If the Tigers had any chance at pushing their wild card playoff chances to the very last inning of the very last game in another seven days, they must treat every inning as their last.