DETROIT – If the Detroit Tigers somehow make the playoffs this season, Monday is the night we’ll all remember.

Jason Benetti and Andy Dirks said it several times throughout the telecast on Bally Sports Detroit: It felt like a playoff atmosphere inside Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

That sentence would have sounded absurd on Aug. 22 — less than a month ago! — when the Tigers had a losing record and sat 9.5 games out of the final wild card spot.

They had just traded away Jack Flaherty and a few other contributors. Reese Olson and Casey Mize were injured. Kerry Carpenter and Riley Greene had just returned from long absences.

Nobody at that moment considered that the Tigers might matter by mid-September — not even the Tigers themselves.

But somehow, some way, here we are.

The Tigers went into Monday night trailing the Twins by 2.5 games. But by 8:30 p.m., it looked like this magical run might finally come to an end.

With the Twins leading the Guardians 3-0 in the middle innings, Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. hit a grand slam off of Olson that put the Tigers in a 4-0 hole.

It sure looked like the Tigers would fall 3.5 games behind the Twins, which would all but extinguish their flickering playoff hopes (especially since they don’t hold the tiebreaker).

But this younger version of the Tigers is never dead. After falling behind 5-1 in the fourth, a Colt Keith homer brought them within a run in the fifth. The Royals scored again in the bottom half, but the Tigers came through with three more in the sixth to take their first lead.

“The Tigers lead, and just as that happened, Cleveland beat Minnesota, 4-3,” Benetti roared on Bally. “The Tigers lead 7-6. Minnesota has lost tonight, and who knows what our next two weeks are going to be like.”

Suddenly, instead of 3.5 back, the Tigers pulled within 1.5 games of a playoff spot. That’s closer than they were to sixth place in the wild card standings on Aug. 22.

Detroit hasn’t been within two games of a playoff spot in the second half since its last winning season in 2016. Even throughout the past four weeks, the Tigers have mostly hovered in the range of three games behind the Twins.

But on Monday, in the matter of about an hour, the Tigers went from the brink of unofficial elimination to the best spot they’ve been in in eight years.

if they cap off this improbable run by sneaking into the postseason, this is the night we’ll remember.

DETROIT (WXYZ) — Hispanic Heritage Month kicked off on Sunday and for the next month, we are going to be highlighting the history, culture and contributions of people with Hispanic roots.

On Monday, we spoke with an organization about its ongoing mission to connect youth, stakeholders and residents in Southwest Detroit.

Congress of Communities is a small nonprofit making big changes in a neighborhood that’s also known as Mexicantown for its rich Hispanic culture.

Lisa Gonzalez says her 15-year-old daughter has been able to learn about her Hispanic heritage through the youth program offered at CoC.

“It boosted my self-confidence, like oh wow, I’m actually doing great as a mom getting her into these programs,” Gonzalez said. “This morning, she woke up and said ‘¡Feliz día de la independencía de Mexico, mom!’”

“It’s like happy Independence Day, like you know, we celebrate our Fourth of July here in American. And in Mexico, they celebrate their independence on the 15th of September,” Gonzalez continued.

CoC program manager Flor Rivera Hernandez told us the organization welcomes everyone who lives in Southwest Detroit.

“It really is a cultural melting pot,” Rivera Hernandez said. “One individual cannot change the entire world but if you have a group of people who share the same beliefs and same values and want to be able to see their community succeed, and you’re able to create spaces like Congress of Communities does to empower youth and young adults and the next generations of leaders and doers and dreamers.”

CoC member Elizabeth Amezcua-Tepehua is one of those dreamers.

“There’s a lot of passions within just being Hispanic, Mexican or any other Latin origin,” Amezcua-Tepehua said.

We asked everyone we spoke with what Hispanic Heritage Month meant to them.

“It’s great to be able to celebrate openly and freely,” Amezcua-Tepehua said.

“It’s a really beautiful mixture of different backgrounds and just being able to celebrate that openly and freely,” Rivera Hernandez said.

“She loves being Mexican American, and that’s something we have a really big passion for,” Gonzalez said.

CoC is almost always putting on a fundraiser or event. If you are interested in what’s coming up next for Coc, visit congressofcommunities.com.

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today re-signed right wing Jonatan Berggren to a one-year contract with an average annual value of $825,000.

Berggren, 23, skated in 12 games with the Red Wings during the 2023-24 season, recording six points (2-4-6) and two penalty minutes. The 5-foot-11, 194-pound forward also played in 53 games with the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins in 2023-24 and ranked among the team leaders with 24 goals (1st), 32 assists (1st), 56 points (1st), 58 penalty minutes (T2nd), four power play goals (T3rd), 19 power play points (1st), four game-winning goals (T1st), 156 shots (2nd) and a 15.4 shooting percentage (1st), representing the club at the 2024 AHL All-Star Classic. Additionally, Berggren led the Griffins with 10 points (5-5-10) in nine postseason contests, including a pair of overtime goals in the Central Division Semifinals against the Rockford IceHogs. Berggren spent the majority of the 2022-23 season with the Red Wings and placed among the team leaders with 15 goals (5th), 28 points (9th), five power play goals (T4th), nine power play points (7th) and a 15.3 shooting percentage (1st) in 67 games. He also registered seven points (4-3-7) in seven appearances with the Griffins in 2022-23. Selected by the Red Wings in the second round (33rd overall) of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, Berggren has collected 34 points (17-17-34) and 18 penalty minutes in 79 career NHL games. He has also logged 127 points (49-78-127) and 84 penalty minutes in 130 AHL games with the Griffins since 2021-22.

Prior to arriving in North America, Berggren played for Skellefteå AIK in the Swedish Hockey League, tying for the team lead with 45 points (12-33-45) in 49 games during the 2020-21 campaign, in addition to four assists in 12 postseason contests. In all, Berggren notched 60 points (14-46-60), a plus-seven rating and 28 penalty minutes in 99 games with Skellefteå AIK in Sweden’s top professional league from 2017-21. Berggren also registered 69 points (24-45-69), a plus-19 rating and 42 penalty minutes in 67 career games for Skellefteå’s under-20 team from 2016-18. The Uppsala, Sweden, native represented his country at the 2023 IIHF World Championship, tallying seven points (2-5-7), a plus-five rating and two penalty minutes in eight games. Berggren earned a bronze medal at the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship, recording five points (1-4-5) in seven games. He captured a bronze medal with Sweden at the 2018 IIHF World Under-18 Championship after leading the team with 10 points (5-5-10) in seven games, and also won bronze after picking up five points (3-2-5) in five games at the 2017 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament. Additionally, Berggren won a gold medal with Sweden during the 2016 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, tallying three points (2-1-3) in six games.

Jonatan Berggren, Right Wing

Born Jul 16 2000 — Uppsala, Sweden

Height 5.11 — Weight 194 — Shoots L

Selected by Detroit Red Wings round 2 #33 overall 2018 NHL Entry Draft