Tigers AL Central collapse nearer to actuality after Guardians doubleheader sweep – Detroit Free Press

The Detroit Tigers at the moment are one loss away from probably flopping into the largest division collapse in MLB historical past.
On July 8, the Tigers had a 14-game lead within the American League Central Division over the Minnesota Twins and Kansas City Royals, and had a 15½-game lead over the Cleveland Guardians.
That margin is gone.
The Tigers are one sport up on the Guardians within the AL Central after Saturday’s video games with seven video games to play. The groups meet for 3 video games in Cleveland starting Tuesday.
The Guardians accomplished a doubleheader sweep towards the Minnesota Twins on Saturday night time, successful 8-0. They gained the primary sport, 6-0, and might full the sweep Sunday afternoon.
The Guardians are on a 10-game successful streak.
The Tigers have misplaced 5 in a row, together with Saturday’s 6-5 gut-punch towards the Atlanta Braves after being one strike away from a win in the ninth inning.
“Troublesome to simply accept, tough to clarify,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said postgame. “It is onerous making an attempt to place into phrases what’s going on, however I understand how a lot we fought at this time.”
The Tigers have one closing regular-season residence sport Sunday with All-Star righty Casey Mize (14-5, 3.88 ERA) pitching towards Braves righty Spencer Strider (6-13, 4.64 ERA), a 2023 All-Star.
Listed below are the division standings coming into Sunday, with every staff having seven video games remaining within the common season.
The Guardians at the moment personal the tiebreaker towards the Tigers, with a 6-4 lead within the season sequence after sweeping the Tigers in Detroit this week.
The groups play subsequent week, Tuesday-Thursday, in Cleveland.
The Tigers can win the division with a sweep of the Guardians, which, at worst, pending Sunday’s outcomes, would put them up three video games with three to play, however they’d maintain the tiebreaker with a 7-6 head-to-head edge within the season sequence.
By way of Saturday, the Tigers’ magic quantity to clinch the AL Central Division is seven. It has not budged all week. They’re 0-5 this week, whereas the Guardians are 6-0, with three wins over the Tigers in Detroit. T
The Royals, who’re seven video games again, are nonetheless barely alive.

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