The game Sunday afternoon at Wrigley Field was meaningless, just the Chicago Cubs and Arizona Diamondbacks playing out the season. But the bench coaches for each team found themselves strangely engaged in the one division race that still mattered, drawn from their separate dugouts to watching the numbers change on the scoreboard, knowing just how much what they were watching unfold meant to their beloved former home of Detroit.

Gibson and Trammell’s rooting interest in the Tigers is entirely natural; they were in Detroit last week to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the franchise’s last World Series victory.

But they also are cheering on a metaphor. Nothing comes easy for Detroit these days. The Tigers had a seven-game lead with 26 games remaining. Kind of like the Big Three automakers all those years ago. Then the Tigers were three up with four to go last week but fell apart before winning their final game to salvage a tie for the division lead.

After all this, the Tigers still control their own destiny. They’re just destined for a much tougher place Tuesday.

Two weeks after the Tigers bid farewell to the Metrodome, less than a week after they hoped they’d seen the last of the Twins, it’s time to head back one more time. And Tuesday’s American League Central tiebreaker, live on TBS at 5:07 p.m. ET, could bring out a tougher atmosphere than Detroit has seen there before. Win and the Tigers will be headed to New York for the American League Division Series. Lose and they will endure an offseason of heartbreak.