BOSTON — Aubert Et Fils Brut champagne dripped from the visitors' clubhouse ceiling Saturday evening. Lite Pilsner sprayed, too.

Exhales hung in the air as did the cigar smoke that permeated the room. Hank Williams Jr.'s "Dinosaur" rattled the speakers. Players sang along.

They had reason to.

It took a lot. Uncertainty. Frustration. Doubt.

But the slow drip -- the one that tested the Tigers all September -- finally filled the cup. A 2-1 win over the Red Sox at Fenway on Sunday delivered it: in Game 161, they had clinched a playoff berth .

"This is all that matters," said ace Tarik Skubal, who will likely win his second straight Cy Young Award in November. "You play this game to get in the postseason. It doesn't matter how you get there, once you get there, let's just play baseba

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