DETROIT _ Let's face it, a playoff chase might have been _ and might be _ a lot to ask of the Tigers.
But they remain on the outskirts of a wild-card spot and keep the conversation going.
A victory like Tuesday's maintains hope.
Spencer Turnbull was in control and Victor Reyes and Jeimer Candelario again ignited the offense as the Tigers defeated the Milwaukee Brewers, 8-3.
Turnbull went six innings and allowed three hits and no runs, while walking three and striking out three. In what has been a mainly inconsistent season, Turnbull was definitely on the positive side of the ledger.
In both the first and third innings, Turnbull got into jams with two runners on and one where he escaped trouble with double plays.
From there, it was relative smooth sailing, with the Brewers getting their only runs off reliever Jose Cisnero in the ninth inning. Bryan Garcia ended the ninth inning threat getting Ben Gamel to pop out with the bases loaded.
One significant loss for the Tigers, though, came in the fourth when the Tigers lost second baseman Jonathan Schoop to a right wrist contusion after he was hit by an Adrian Houser pitch.
The Tigers announced Schoop was undergoing further evaluation.
The Tigers returned home Tuesday after losing four of five during the weekend in Minnesota and gradually watching any realistic playoff hopes slip away.
Manager Ron Gardenhire acknowledged in a pregame Zoom chat the importance of this current stretch.
But Gardenhire stressed the Tigers were right there in every game against the Twins.
"Our veteran guys are probably more aware than some of the younger guys who are trying to establish themselves, or just trying to get playing time," said Gardenhire of the importance of the current schedule. "We had a ton of chances (in Minnesota), we lost so many close ballgames there late in the game.
"You can look at it two different ways. We aren't getting it done or we had chances and unfortunately, we make a bad pitch and it cost us in a few games."
Gardenhire has also been pleased with the competitiveness the Tigers are showing.
Unlike the previous two seasons, the Tigers aren't necessarily out when falling behind early in games and the lineup has shown the capability to score runs.
"We are competing, we are competing very good and very hard and it's a fun team to watch," Gardenhire said. "At times it can be frustrating, but we're competing, we're doing things that we haven't gotten done the last couple of years and normally it's just one more hit or one more good pitch away when you're in those situations.
"We just have to get that streak going like we had before where the confidence rises. It was a tough one (during the weekend) but we all know how close we were to winning that series.
"It was just a couple pitches here and there."
The Tigers got on the scoreboard first in the fourth inning when Willi Castro singled in Miguel Cabrera, who had reached on a force out.
The Tigers broke it open in the fifth inning, with a huge five-run, five-hit uprising.
Reyes made it 2-0 with a run-scoring single, then Candelario and Jorge Bonifacio broadened the lead, each contributing two-run singles.
The scorching Candelario extended the lead to 8-0 with a two-run HR to right field in the seventh.
On both of Candelario's run-scoring hits, the Brewers appeared to be pitching around Cabrera and preferring to take their chances pitching to Candelario.
But Candelario made them pay both times.
Incidentally, Cabrera's run on the Candelario home run was Cabrera's 1,000th run scored in a Tigers uniform becoming only the 10th player in Tigers' history to reach the milestone.
