Guardians Erase 15½-Game Deficit, Tigers Collapse

The Cleveland Guardians have erased roughly a 15½-game deficit to pull even with the Detroit Tigers, turning the AL Central race into one of baseball’s most remarkable late-season comebacks. Cleveland’s surge — including a 17–5 month, a 15-of-16 stretch and a recent sweep of Detroit — has coincided with Detroit’s September collapse (5–14). Tigers ace and reigning AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal has lost three straight starts amid diminished command and a bizarre inning that featured a balk, a wild pitch and a throwing error. Detroit moved Skubal’s next start up to Tuesday to try to stop the slide and to preserve the option of him starting the regular-season finale on normal rest, but using him twice would risk his availability for a short wild-card series. Detroit still controls its playoff fate with a handful of games remaining, but the math, momentum and optics make a Cleveland comeback increasingly likely and could cement one of the larger late-season collapses in modern MLB history.