Coming into September, it was the Detroit Tigers' division to lose. They once held a 14-game lead in the AL Central, but with how they have played this month, the American League Central has gotten much closer.
The Cleveland Guardians have been surging, covering a ton of ground in the division lately. They swept Detroit earlier this week and gained another spot with their 6-0 win over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday.
Detroit would go on to lose its fifth straight game Saturday afternoon. Now, they only hold a 1.5-game lead over Cleveland with just seven games left in the regular season.
Tigers' skipper at a loss for words as team continues to implode down the stretch
Things have not gone well for Detroit lately. On top of losing games, they are also losing players. The latest being Colt Keith, whose regular season came to a close after he was placed on the IL on Friday.
Detroit needed to turn around its losing streak, but the bullpen could not get the job done. Up one in the ninth inning, Will Vest gave up two runs to give Atlanta the lead. Detroit lost the game by a score of 6-5, leaving manager A.J. Hinch at a loss for words, via USA Today's Bob Nightengale.
"It's hard to explain what is going on."
This is quite the collapse for what was one of MLB's most consistent teams. They will have to quickly get out of this slump and win some games. If not, their postseason spot could seriously be in jeopardy.