BOSTON -- The Detroit Tigers can take the suspense out of the weekend with a win over the Red Sox at 4:10 p.m. on Saturday.

Do that, and they’ll clinch their first back-to-back playoff berths since 2011-14.

Lose, and they’ll be forced to wait until after midnight to see if the Houston Astros fall to the Los Angeles Angels in a game that begins at 9:38 p.m. Eastern.

Tarik Skubal, Detroit’s ace left-hander, made it clear which option he prefers.

“I’m not staying up and watching (Astros-Angels),” Skubal said Saturday afternoon. “I’ll be asleep. Hopefully someone bangs on my door, and that means we’re in.”

If the Tigers don’t clinch today, Skubal will be ready to start Sunday’s regular-season finale with Detroit’s season still hanging in the balance.

“This is why you play the game,” he

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