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4m ago

AL Central Up for Grabs as Guardians Cut Tigers’ Lead to One Game

Cleveland’s pitching-fueled surge has turned a 15½-game hole into a one-game race entering a head-to-head set in Cleveland.

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Featured Image by Justin Redler (@reldernitsuj on Bsky/Twitter)
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Overview

  • The Tigers (85-71) and Guardians (84-72) open a three-game series Tuesday in Cleveland with six games left for each club, positioning the division to be settled this week.
  • Cleveland has gone 15-2 since Sept. 5 after trailing by 11 games that day, while Detroit has lost six straight and nine of 10 during a 26-37 slide since July 9.
  • The Guardians lead the season series 6-4, so one win in this set would lock up the tiebreaker; MLB no longer uses a Game 163.
  • Tuesday’s matchup features Tarik Skubal vs. Gavin Williams; Skubal has a 0.41 ERA with 32 strikeouts in 22 innings against Cleveland in 2025, and Williams owns a 2.15 ERA over 13 starts since July 6.
  • Elias notes Cleveland was down as many as 15½ games and below .500 as late as Sept. 4, making this rally an outlier if completed.