The Cleveland Guardians prevailed against the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday night, 5-1 (box score), taking sole possession of first place in the American League Central for the first time since April 22. The Guardians had defeated the Tigers on Tuesday night to create a tie atop the division.
The Tigers struck first on Wednesday, with outfielder Parker Meadows putting Detroit up 1-0 on a third-inning sacrifice fly. Yet it was the Guardians who struck next, and who ultimately struck last. George Valera, a rookie playing in just his 13th big-league game, delivered a two-run home run in the third to put Cleveland on top. Steven Kwan drove in an insurance run in the fifth, with Jose Ramirez adding two more runs in the seventh to give the Guardians what proved to be an insurmountable 5-1 lead.
The AL Central seemed like a settled matter as recently as September 3, when the Tigers held a 10-game advantage. Heck, the Tigers were up by as many as 14 games on July 9. Weeks later, the Guardians appeared to concede by trading longtime ace Shane Bieber to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for right-handed pitching prospect Khal Stephen. Factor in how Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase was placed on administrative leave (alongside starter Luis L. Ortiz) while MLB investigated possible gambling-related violations, and Cleveland’s goose seemed cooked.
In most years that would have remained the case. Not this one. The Tigers have slumped hard in September, posting a 5-15 record. The Guardians, for their part, have soared to an 18-5 mark including Wednesday’s win. Earlier this week, CBS Sports’ own Dayn Perry attempted to contextualize where the Tigers’ collapse would rank among the worst in MLB history.
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The Guardians and Tigers will round out their series on Thursday evening. Cleveland will then host the Texas Rangers this weekend to close out the regular season. Conversely, the Tigers will head to Boston for three games against the Red Sox. It’s worth noting that the Guardians own the tiebreaker advantage by virtue of winning the season series against the Tigers; that means the Tigers will have to win the division outright to win it at all. After Wednesday’s game, that task is just a little bit taller.
