DETROIT – The Detroit Tigers, baseball’s hottest team in recent weeks, earned an AL wild-card berth Friday night to end a decade-long postseason drought.

“This team is pretty dangerous,” Tigers baseball president Scott Harris said. “We had the opportunity to make some noise in October and we continue to fight for that opportunity.”

Detroit clinched a spot in the playoffs with a 4-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox, who set a modern Major League record with their 121st loss.

The Tigers went on a tear, winning six in a row and ten out of eleven, reaching the play-offs for the first time since 2014.

Detroit was 55-63 on August 10 – 10 games out of the final wild card – and then went 31-11. During that stretch, the Tigers have the lowest ERA in baseball and the largest series differential.

“It’s a dream come true,” first baseman Spencer Torkelson said.

AL Cy Young Award favorite Tarik Skubal leads Detroit’s rotation and Jason Foley has become a reliable closer in a strong bullpen. He earned his 28th save in the series opener against Chicago.

Riley Greene, an All-Star outfielder, is the team’s best player in a top-to-bottom lineup.

Torkelson, the No. 1 overall pick in 2020, was sent to the minors during the season and rebounded well enough to contribute to the team’s late run.

“That’s what makes it so special when you win,” Torkelson said. “It’s not always going to be perfect. You’re not always going to get hit. You’re not always going to get the guy out. But just grinding through it and hanging in there, that’s what makes it so special.”

Detroit took advantage of playing a historically bad team and broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning of the playoff victory. Jake Rogers scored when Jared Shuster was charged with a wild pitch, even though the ball did not hit the ground just under catcher Korey Lee’s glove.

Greene gave Detroit a 3-1 lead with a double in the seventh, and Chicago helped the home team again later in the inning when Fraser Ellard threw the third wild pitch of the night.

Detroit overcame the long odds to reach the postseason. A month ago, the Tigers were 33-1 to make the playoffs at ESPN BET, and their odds to win the World Series were as high as 500-1 at some sportsbooks in early September. On Friday, Detroit won the World Series 30-1 on ESPN BET.

“Every player I hugged, I had a flashback to a moment of adversity they faced, or a moment where we challenged them to do something different and all these guys did that,” Harris said on the field after the competition. “They rose to the occasion and they deserve it. I’m really proud of them.”

The Tigers started strong in April, winning six of their first seven games in their second full season under Harris and AJ Hinch’s fourth year as manager. They had a winning record until mid-May, when the team began to fall in the standings.

They appeared to be out of pitching in late July when Kenta Maeda was demoted to the bullpen, Casey Mize and Reese Olson were injured and Jack Flaherty was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Every time it looked like the Tigers would rally, they would fail to maintain the success and many fans around the state turned their attention to football.

Hinch got creative, rolling with a rotation of Skubal and rookie Keider Montero, while relying on the bullpen to throw entire games, like the series opener against the White Sox, in front of 44,435 fans at Comerica Park.

Skubal and Montero are a combined 11-3 since August 1, but only one other starting pitcher has won a game and that was Brant Hurter against the Los Angeles Angels a month ago.

The Motor City baseball team salvaged its season and revived interest, drawing big crowds after finishing the past few seasons in a largely empty stadium.

“It’s been a long time since this organization has been in the playoffs and these fans deserve it,” Harris said.

David Purdum of ESPN and The Associated Press contributed to this report.