Indians Fall to Tigers

Saying that a team finished a season with a winning record has a nice ring to it. Truth be told, the winter months will not be filled with regret for the Indians just because they will walk away from this year without a positive ledger.

Ending with more wins than losses was never the goal.

"We had bigger plans," Indians closer Chris Perez said.

On Tuesday night, the Indians were dealt a 9-6 defeat at the hands of the Tigers, whose only concern now is trying to secure home-field advantage for the first round of the playoffs with just one game left in the regular season. With the American League Central title in hand, Detroit has been invited to the October dance.

That is where the Indians hoped to be when the curtain fell on the 162-game slate. Falling short of reaching the playoffs has left Cleveland playing for second place in the division. Dropping Tuesday's game to the Tigers left the Tribe (80-81) unable to achieve a winning record, which it last did in 2007.

One game above or below .500 -- or finishing even on the year -- is still a disappointing finish for the men inside Cleveland's clubhouse.

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