Fry Suffers Facial Fractures; Guardians Take AL Lead

The Cleveland Guardians beat the Detroit Tigers 5-1 behind George Valera’s two-run homer, José Ramírez’s two-run double and a six-inning, one-run start from Tanner Bibee, moving into sole possession of first place in the AL Central with a one-game lead and the season tiebreaker with four games remaining. The win capped a run in which Cleveland has won 17 of 19 (12 of 13), making them the first MLB team to erase a 15½-game deficit and take the division lead, leaving their magic number at three. The Tigers have tumbled in September, losing at least eight straight and 11 of 12. In a separate incident, Guardians DH David Fry was hit in the face by a 99.6-mph fastball from Tigers starter Tarik Skubal and was diagnosed with left-sided facial and nasal fractures; he was discharged from the hospital and is expected to miss 6–8 weeks. Skubal reached out and visited Fry in the hospital, and both teams resume the pivotal series Thursday as Cleveland pursues a division clinch and Detroit tries to halt its slide.