DETROIT — Control-alt-delete.

The Tigers are happily hitting the reboot button for the playoffs, after a couple of listless performances in the final two games of the regular season, a pair of losses to the historically awful Chicago White Sox at Comerica Park.

Chicago beat up on Kenta Maeda and Detroit, 9-5, in the final game of the regular season Sunday. It marked just the third time since the Tigers officially got hot Aug. 11 that they've lost consecutive games, after falling, 4-0, on Saturday, one day after clinching a most-surprising berth in the playoffs. It's the first time they've lost consecutive games at home since Aug. 29-30.

With the loss, coupled with the Kansas City Royals' 4-2 win over the Atlanta Braves, the Tigers will open the playoffs with a best-of-three series against the Astros in Houston, starting Tuesday. The winner of that series will face the American League Central-champion Cleveland Guardians in the Division Series.

"It's a fresh start," said Matt Vierling, one of two Tigers with Major League Baseball playoff experience, with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2022. "Obviously, the last couple games didn't go our way, but you know, we felt like we had a ton of momentum. So we're excited. First time we've been here in a while, first time for everybody to kind of be in the postseason. So we're all super excited.

"It's going to be a lot of fun."

The Tigers were set to travel to Houston on Sunday night, and will hold a workout day Monday, as they work to set their 26-player roster.

Maeda, the other Tiger with playoff experience (six seasons, four with Los Angeles Dodgers, two with Minnesota Twins) who already was a long shot to make the playoff roster, did himself no favors Sunday, allowing five runs on five hits, including a long home run to left-center field by Lenyn Sosa in the third inning. It was Sosa's eighth homer.

Maeda (3-7) breezed through the first inning, as the White Sox, looking eager to end this misery of a season after setting a major-league record for losses with their 121st Friday night, swung at all but one pitch.

But they scored two runs in the second inning, with Sosa and Bryan Ramos hitting back-to-back singles, and Korey Lee following with a two-run single to make it 1-0. Dominic Fletcher then lofted a ball to shallow center field, where Parker Meadows laid out for another spectacular play, albeit for a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0.

The next inning, Maeda walked the leadoff man, Miguel Vargas, Zach DeLoach had a one-out single, and with two outs, Sosa hit the home run the hushed another large Comerica Park crowd. Maeda threw 89 pitches, his most in a game since Aug. 22, as manager AJ Hinch looked to preserve his top bullpen arms the last couple days.

The Tigers' offense did nothing for the first four innings against White Sox starter Jonathan Cannon (5-10), before he walked the bases loaded in the fifth.

That set the stage for Kerry Carpenter, who launched a grand slam to right-center field, bringing a crowd of 41,740 to life as the Tigers pulled to within 5-4. That snapped Detroit's 14-inning scoreless streak.

But two innings later, the White Sox teed off again, this time against Keider Montero, who came in after Casey Mize allowed the first two runners to reach. Montero gave up a two-run, opposite-field single to Ramos, who barely left home plate until the ball landed well fair. Korey Lee's grounder to third, booted by Vierling, scored another run, and Jacob Amaya closed the scoring with an RBI single to blow it open, 9-4, before the Tigers' third straight sellout. (They drew 128,108 for the series, the most for a three-game series at Comerica Park since July 2012.)

Detroit had one last gasp in the eighth, loading the bases with two outs against reliever Prelander Berroa, who walked Spencer Torkelson to make it 9-5. That brought in another the fifth pitcher of the day for the White Sox, Enyel De Los Santos, who got Trey Sweeney to ground out back to the mound to end the threat.

The Tigers, who finished the season 10-3 against the White Sox, had two errors in the game (Vierling and Sweeney), a passed ball (Rogers) and a runner picked off first (Wenceel Perez). Tigers pitchers allowed their most runs since a 10-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Aug. 22, best-known as the last game Javy Báez played. Manager AJ Hinch got ejected in the ninth inning, after replay upheld a catch by right fielder Fletcher on a ball to the wall by Zach McKinstry, even though it appeared Fletcher bobbled the ball and it hit the wall. Hinch was fired up, and the crowd appreciated that. The crowd booed as the umps walked off the field following the final outs, Carpenter hitting into a double play.

"Ejection on the last day on your bingo card ... you know," Hinch quipped after receiving his first ejection of the season. "I just told them I understand the automatic ejection (for arguing instant replay), but they took a hit away from Z-Mac. I thought it was pretty clear that it hit the wall. Maybe they didn't have the right angle. You can see by the reaction of the right fielder. And I just thought it was an injustice, like he deserved a hit.

"Who knows how that inning goes, but defending our team and defending Z-Mac. That was easy. And I just thought New York (replay officials) missed it."

The White Sox, despite setting the major-league mark for futility, closed the season with five victories in their final six games, as they head into an offseason of uncertainty, with big decisions facing general manager and Metro Detroit native Chris Getz ― from the roster to the manager. Grady Sizemore is the interim manager.

The Tigers finished the regular season 86-76, their best record since posting the same mark in 2016. They're heading to the postseason for the first time since 2014, as a wild card for the second time, first since 2006. They were eight games under .500 after losing Aug. 10, then posted the best record in baseball through the regular-season finale, overcoming 500-to-1 odds to make the playoffs. They clinched Friday night, before a crowd of more than 44,000, their best attendance since Opening Day, then celebrated deep into the night with beer, champagne and the like.

A hangover was expected Saturday, but it lingered through much of Sunday, too, for one more game and one more loss, albeit neither of which mattered much.

The next games, of course, matter most. It's time for October baseball.

It's time for a reboot.

"We believe," outfielder Riley Greene said. "We believe we can do anything."

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