CLEVELAND (AP) \u2014 The Detroit Tigers left Cleveland on July 6 with a commanding 15 1\/2-game lead in the American League Central after a series sweep of the Guardians, who had dropped 10 straight.<\/p>\n
When the Tigers get to Progressive Field on Tuesday, they will be trying to avoid suffering the worst collapse since baseball went to divisions in 1969.<\/p>\n
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Detroit (85-71) has a 1-game lead going into the three-game series. The Tigers were up 10 1\/2 games when September started, but have gone 5-13 and have dropped six straight and nine of 10.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis last month, a lot of people could say we were out of it. I think (players) could have started to look at their numbers and just tried to look to the offseason,\u201d Guardians outfielder Steven Kwan said. \u201cBut we\u2019ve been playing some really unselfish baseball, grinding together, sticking together. It\u2019s been really fun, and we\u2019ve got a really exciting week coming up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cleveland (84-72) is an MLB-best 16-5 this month and has won 10 of 11. It has also added momentum after sweeping a three-game series last week in Detroit.<\/p>\n
The Guardians have a 6-4 lead in the season series and need a win in one of the three games for an advantage should tiebreakers come into play.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe couldn\u2019t be more excited to get back home. The boys are ready, we know what is at stake, and it\u2019s going to be a lot of fun this week,\u201d Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said.<\/p>\n
Cleveland is the first team since the 2017 Los Angeles Dodgers to have a 10-game winning streak and 10-game losing skid in the same season. However, it is looking to become the first AL team to make the postseason despite having a 10-game losing streak. The Guardians would join the 2017 Dodgers, 1982 Atlanta Braves and 1951 New York Giants.<\/p>\n
Even though the Guardians lost 6-2 to Minnesota<\/a> on Sunday, they are tied with Houston for the final wild-card spot and hold the tiebreaker after winning the season series.<\/p>\n The Guardians have had the majors\u2019 best pitching staff this month. Their 2.32 ERA is 1.01 better than the next closest team and a marked improvement from the 3.92 ERA it had the first five-plus months of the season.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n The starting staff \u2014 11-1 with a 2.02 ERA in September \u2014 has allowed two or fewer runs in a franchise-record 17 straight games. It is the first rotation to achieve that since the 2019 Tampa Bay Rays had a 19-game run.<\/p>\n Third baseman Jos\u00e9 Ram\u00edrez \u2014 who has his third career 30 home run\/30 stolen base season \u2014 and Kwan have led the offense all season, but others have started to pick up the slack. Catcher Bo Naylor has an RBI in a career-high six straight games and has driven in 14 since Sept. 10.<\/p>\n Cleveland has a .740 OPS this month, which is third in the American League after being last for most of the season.<\/p>\n The Tigers are trying to avoid being compared to the 1978 Boston Red Sox, who squandered a 14-game lead in the AL East and lost a one-game playoff to the New York Yankees.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Detroit\u2019s pitching staff had a 3.80 ERA through August, fourth-best in the American League. In its last 18 games, the ERA is 5.32, third-worst in the AL.<\/p>\n The Tigers\u2019 offense has posted a collective .671 OPS thus far in September, which is 11th in the AL. The team\u2019s OPS through August was .740, fifth-best in the AL.<\/p>\n