The Cleveland Guardians are on an amazing nine-game win streak, as the club is making a strong push for the playoffs. Simultaneously, the Detroit Tigers have been on the struggle bus in recent weeks, opening up a window for Cleveland to potentially surpass them in the AL Central.
With just eight games remaining in the regular season, the Guardians are just 1.5 games behind the Tigers after being as far back as 11 games at the beginning of September. Cleveland is on the verge of accomplishing a historic feat if the team is able to pass Detroit in the standings.
If the Guardians accomplish that goal and beat out the Tigers to win the AL Central, then Cleveland will officially overcome the largest deficit in a division to end up winning the series in the month of September, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com, along with the Elias Sports Bureau.
“The Guardians were as many as 11 games behind in the division this month. Largest Sept deficits overcome to win division (1969-on) or league (pre-‘69):
1964 Cardinals: 8.5 GB
2009 Twins: 7.0
2007 Phillies: 7.0
1938 Cubs: 7.0
1934 Cardinals: 7.0”
Detroit is experiencing a major downfall in the closing months of the regular season. Tigers fans have already reacted to the late-season struggles. Marc Ryan of “97.1 The Ticket” pointed out on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the team was 14 games ahead in the AL Central in July. The last time a team gave up a 14-game series lead in July was the 1978 Boston Redsox.
“The largest blown division lead in MLB history was choked away by the Red [Sox] in 1978. They led by 14 games in July. The Tigers led the AL Central by 14 games in July. Say it ain’t so. Please tell me we’re going to wake up from this.”
Cleveland will have a chance to extend its win streak to 10 on Saturday at 7:10 EST as the Guardians take on the Minnesota Twins in the second contest of a doubleheader. The Guardians will follow this series up with a three-game series against the Tigers, in what will be a pivotal matchup this late in the season.
