The Cleveland Guardians have made up the most ground in MLB history for a team re-taking their division lead. After being down 15.5 games at one point, the Guardians now have the AL Central lead.
Though the series finale against the Detroit Tigers was a loss, the Guardians hold the tiebreaker, and if they finish with the same record as Detroit, they'll have clinched the AL Central for the most improbable comeback in MLB history.
After the Tigers series, Tim Stebbins of MLB.com shared comments from multiple leaders of the Guardians on their series win. Those leaders expressed confidence in the team and belief that they're in prime positioning to close out the regular season strong and secure a postseason spot.
Guardians' leadership confident after key series win over Detroit
"We're in a really good position," manager Stephen Vogt said. "I couldn't be more thrilled with the way our guys played these last three days. We played a great series. Our goal is to win the series; we talked about it all year long, and we won the series."
Winning each series is all the team needs to do to succeed in the Majors. A sweep would obviously be great, but a series win is still a huge outcome for the Guardians.
Cleveland, with the series win over Detroit, has secured the tiebreaker in the AL Central. The Tigers now need to finish one game ahead of Cleveland to secure the division.
The Guardians' magic number is three with three to play, but they control their own destiny. Compared to how it looked earlier in September, down 10.5 games, this is a demonstrably better outlook than before.
"We're right where we want to be," Austin Hedges said. "We go win this next series, we're right where we want to be, and that's playing in October."
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Securing the AL Central is one thing, but just to make the postseason, with the Houston Astros' struggles, all the Guardians need to do is win two of their final three games.
Cleveland is one of the hottest teams in baseball, and the Rangers have faltered down the stretch and will be without a few key players for the series finale.
As Hedges points out, the Guardians are right where they want to be. In control of their destiny, with a chance to officially cement the greatest division comeback in MLB history.
There's still work to be done, but what the Guardians have put together already is nothing short of incredible. This team is confident and together.
Even with the series finale loss to the Tigers, Cleveland is still in a good position to make the postseason and clinch the AL Central title. Cleveland is confident, and they have every right to be amid one of the hottest stretches in baseball this season.
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