Mariners move past Tigers into second AL Wild Card spot

After losing their grip on the division lead to the Royals earlier this week, the Tigers have now fallen behind the Mariners for the second Wild Card spot in the American League.

The Mariners defeated the Tigers 7-2 last night at Comerica Park in Detroit to extend their winning streak to five games. James Paxton tossed six innings of one-run ball in the victory while Robinson Cano went 2-for-4 with his 11th home run of the season. Rick Porcello struggled in the loss, giving up six runs (five earned) on 10 hits over six innings.

Losers of seven out of their last 10, the Tigers are currently 1 1/2 games behind the Royals in the American League Central and a half-game behind the Mariners for the second Wild Card spot. Still, there’s a long way to go in the season and Tigers manager Brad Ausmus told Jason Beck of MLB.com that this isn’t the time to panic.

“I’d much rather be in first place up by 15 games, but that’s not the case,” manager Brad Ausmus said. “We’re just going to keep going. There’s a ton of baseball left. We didn’t win tonight, but we can’t change it, so we’ll come back tomorrow against a very tough pitcher. But luckily for us, they’re going against a tough pitcher as well.”

The matchup Ausmus was alluding to is David Price vs. Felix Hernandez, which should be a lot of fun to watch later tonight.

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