Guardians Take AL Central Lead

The Cleveland Guardians beat the Detroit Tigers 5-1 to move into sole possession of first place in the AL Central, the first time an MLB team has overcome a 15.5-game deficit to take a division or league lead. Cleveland (86-72) holds a one-game advantage over Detroit (85-73) with four games remaining and owns the season-series tiebreaker, effectively giving them a two-game edge. George Valera’s two-run homer and José Ramírez’s two-run double (Ramírez reached a franchise milestone) powered the offense, and Tanner Bibee earned the win as Cleveland’s rotation has limited opponents to two or fewer runs across 19 consecutive starts. The Guardians have won 17 of 19, producing an MLB-best September surge that flipped analytics and betting odds in their favor. Detroit has imploded late, losing eight straight and going 1–9 over its last 10 games, putting its playoff hopes in jeopardy.