DETROIT (WXYZ) — For the first time in 10 years, playoff baseball is coming back to downtown Detroit.
The Detroit Tigers beat the Houston Astros 5-2 on Wednesday, moving on to the AL Division Series against the Cleveland Guardians. The best-of-five series includes at least one home game at Comerica Park, with a second potential game if necessary.
VIDEO: Tigers move onin playoffs, eliminate the Astros
The middle of a work day didn’t stop Tigers fans from heading to the ballpark to watch the team punch their ticket to the divisional round during the Tigers official watch party.
“It’s too small on the little screen. Gotta be in the park to enjoy it,” Donetta Smolinski of Shelby Township said.
See our coverage from the watch party at Comerica Park in the video below:
Smolinski and Edward Caudle came to nearly 20 games this year including Opening Day. They're surprised to be back at the park watching baseball again in October. They already bought tickets to the home playoff game against the Guardians.
"We were here Opening Day with the snow, and here we are," Smolinski said.
While not packed for a weekday away game, the win means another series for the Tigers, including potentially two homes games at Comerica Park, which would bringing thousands of people downtown. Already, there's lots of excitement.
“The excitement in the city is so awesome right now," said Frances Billingsley of Detroit, who was at the watch event. "Hopefully, they go to the World Series. That’d be awesome.”
“I think it brings a lot," downtown resident William Zimmer said about the playoff run. "It brings a lot to the economy and the energy of the city and young people wanting to live here.”
The victory is also a win for downtown sports bars like Harry’s. Even on Wednesday, they had post-game spillover from fans at the Comerica watch party, and now get to add another playoff series with home games in the mix.
"We got the Lions going strong, we got the Tigers in the playoffs and the Wings are going to start next week," general manager Hugh Leonard said. "This is the start of our busy season so to add this on, to us it’s just even more exciting.”
For Smolinski and Caudle, they think back to Opening Day when they went with their friend Eric. He was a Tigers season ticket holder who even went to the 1968 World Series. Sadly, he died suddenly about a month ago just as this magical run was beginning. They hope for him, the Tigers go all the way.
“He was blind and he loved the Tigers," Caudle said of his friend. "He’s helping us out from upstairs.”
