The Detroit Tigers‘ season was supposed to have ended on Aug. 2.

That’s the day they finalized a trade sending two-time defending AL Cy Young award winner Tarik Skubal to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

With Skubal in the final year of his contract and the Tigers stumbling into the final third of their schedule, GM Scott Harris decided it was time to cut his losses and look to the future. Not only did he trade his ace, Skubal, he also sent No. 2 starter Casey Mize to the San Diego Padres just before the deadline.

But then a funny thing happened.

The Tigers didn’t sink like a stone in the standings. Instead, they kept moving up.

Tigers pick their path

The decision to deal Skubal may have come after the Tigers dropped two of three at home to the Baltimore Orioles, capped by blowing a seven-run lead in what would be Skubal’s final start to fall to 51-58 with two months to play.

Setting off for a nine-game road trip to Sacramento, Seattle and San Francisco, things looked pretty bleak.

But the bigger picture said something different.

Since getting Skubal back from an elbow injury in mid-June when they were 12 games under .500, the Tigers have been one of the best teams in baseball, going 29-19 (.604).

When the Skubal trade was announced on Aug. 2, the Tigers were just completing a three-game sweep of the A’s.

They then took two of three against both the Giants and Mariners and are now just two games under .500.

How have they managed to stay afloat?

The schedule has helped. The A’s have the second-worst record in the AL, while the Giants have the second-worst mark in the NL.

But beyond that, left-hander Framber Valdez has won has last two starts, going seven innings in both games and yielding a total of two runs. This season’s biggest surprise, right-hander Troy Melton, hasn’t given up an earned run in any of his last three starts. And right-hander Jackson Jobe also returned from Tommy John surgery to make his first start in 14 months. He hit 100 mph in tossing five scoreless innings against the Giants.

The offense has caught fire as well, scoring at least eight runs in six of the nine games on the road trip. The Tigers have now outscored their opponents by 87 runs, the largest margin of any AL team.

As they return home for series against the division-rival Cleveland Guardians and Chicago White Sox, the Tigers will look to continue their post-Skubal surge.

Tigers’ playoff position

The Detroit Tigers have an overall record of 58-60, with 44 games left to play. At the start of play on Tuesday, Aug. 11, they are currently tied for second place in the AL Central division, 3½ games behind the White Sox. They are also 1½ games out of the AL’s third wild-card spot.

Tigers’ remaining schedule:

HOME (24)

• vs. CLE (3)
• vs. CHW (3)
• vs. TB (3)
• vs. LAD (3)
• vs. MIN (3)
• vs. COL (3)
• vs. WAS (3)
• vs. PIT (3)

AWAY (20)

• at PIT (3)
• at KC (3)
• at MIN (3)
• at CLE (4)
• at TOR (3)
• at CHW (4)