DETROIT >> The Motor City has not hosted a playoff baseball game in a decade.

The long wait is almost over.

The Detroit Tigers play the Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday with their best-of-five AL Division Series tied at one game apiece, ending a drought that has dragged on since 2014.

“There’s a whole generation of kids here that haven’t seen postseason baseball live,” Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris said Tuesday. “Hopefully, they are loud from the very first pitch. I’ve seen the fans help us win games and I’m really excited to see what they can do.”

The Guardians have a player making a long-awaited return to the postseason.

Alex Cobb last appeared in the playoffs in 2013 when he started two games for Tampa Bay, a wild-card win against Cleveland and a Division Series loss to Boston.

The 37-year-old righty had hip surgery last Oct. 31 and hadn’t yet returned to the mound when he was acquired from San Francisco at the July 30 trade deadline.

The 2023 All-Star made his season debut Aug. 9 and was sidelined after two games by a torn nail on his right index finger. He didn’t allow an earned run over six innings in his Sept. 1 return against Pittsburgh, then went back on the injured list with a blister on his right middle finger that ended his regular season. He was 2-1 with a 2.76 ERA in three games and 16 1/3 innings with the Guardians.

“There’s probably nobody in this playoffs that appreciate it more than I do after being away from being in this for so long,” Cobb said.

He prepped for the playoffs with a pair of simulated games.

“I was kind of living and dying on every single pitch of those two sim games to give them the confidence that I was ready,” Cobb said.

Detroit tied the series Monday when Kerry Carpenter hit a three-run homer in the ninth off All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase for a 3-0 victory against the AL Central champions.