KANSAS CITY -- The Tigers refuse to quit.

After dropping to 55-63 on Aug. 10, holding just a 0.2% chance to make the postseason, Detroit has rattled off a Major League-best 23 wins.

The young core, led by stellar starting pitching and an ever increasingly dangerous lineup, once again charged from behind in Monday¡¯s 7-6 comeback win over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.

But this one felt different. Detroit has been one of the hottest teams in the big leagues for over a month, sure, but with just 11 games remaining -- the postseason push is now real. And after Monday, Detroit¡¯s playoff odds skyrocketed to 18.5%, almost doubling the 9.9% chance the Tigers had coming into the game.

The club is aware of how important these games are, so to rally on the road, erasing not one, but two four-run deficits after Bobby Witt Jr. clobbered a grand slam -- it¡¯s a testament to how much this club has grown up in such a short span of time.

¡°That was probably the best game we¡¯ve played all year as a team,¡± Colt Keith said. ¡°To complete that, it was awesome. It took pitching, took hitting, took timely hitting, and it was just really fun.¡±

Keith¡¯s two-run blast with the Tigers down 5-2 in the fifth fueled the rally and ignited a dugout that¡¯s been suddenly bombarded by postseason discussion in the clubhouse. With Detroit¡¯s win and Minnesota¡¯s loss to Cleveland, the Tigers are now just 1 1/2 games behind the Twins, who hold the tiebreaker, for the third and final AL Wild Card spot.

And just as Detroit was rallying, a hard-to-miss score on the inside the left-center-field wall reflected how important the Tigers¡¯ comeback would mean for a Detroit club looking to make the playoffs for the first time since 2014.

¡°No, I¡¯m guilty of at least like, 50 times. I kept looking, and I saw the Guardians loaded them up, and then didn¡¯t [take the lead],¡± Keith said. ¡°And then I looked up the next inning, and they¡¯re up 4-3 and I¡¯m like, ¡®Let¡¯s go.¡¯ And at that point, we¡¯re making a comeback, so it¡¯s a pretty good feeling.¡±

That good feeling carried over to the plate, where Wenceel P¨¦rez came through with the game-tying knock -- a pinch-hit two-run double down the left-field line -- to tie it at 6 before Matt Vierling gave them the lead with an RBI single.

¡°Ice cold coming off a rehab assignment too. ¡­ For him to be able to get him timing down off that guy and hit a double off him was amazing,¡± Keith said. ¡°Just one of the maybe 20 huge at-bats we had in this game that really helped us win.¡±

The Tigers erupted for 14 hits and all nine in the starting lineup either notched a hit, got an RBI or reached base. Royals starter, and AL Cy Young candidate, Seth Lugo, who had beaten Detroit twice previously this season, was tagged for four runs and couldn¡¯t make it out of the fifth after not allowing any runs in the first three frames.

¡°So awesome. So proud of everyone. We kept fighting,¡± said Spencer Torkelson, who extended his hitting streak to seven games with two knocks. ¡°Even though we didn't have a lot of success early on, I feel like we were working at-bats and made him a little tired and got him out of the game in the fifth inning. So that was huge to get to their bullpen. Huge clutch hitting by a bunch of guys. Awesome.¡±

Reese Olson went just 2 1/3 innings in his return from the IL, getting tagged for four runs, but Detroit¡¯s bullpen, which has the third best ERA (3.60) in the AL this season, tossed 6 2/3 frames of two-run ball to seal the comeback. Will Vest and Beau Brieske each worked out of jams in the seventh and eight innings, respectively, to keep the one-run lead before Jason Foley closed it out.

The Tigers trailed a Wild Card spot by 9 1/2 games on Aug. 22 -- less than one month ago -- but now have the opportunity to hold a playoff spot in as little as 48 hours.

¡°It was an incredible win because of how we had to do it,¡± manager A.J. Hinch said. ¡°From some near misses ¡­ a couple really big swings, and then held on at the end. ¡­ Incredible win and great performance by so many of our guys.

¡°We know what¡¯s going on. We know how valuable wins are at this time of year. ¡­ We¡¯re going to fight.¡±