CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Guardians have positioned themselves to capture the American League Central division title with a victory in Sunday’s regular season finale against the Texas Rangers, completing a stunning turnaround after trailing by as many as 15 1/2 games in early July.
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What a night for Guardians! Win Weird & go to playoffs!!! – Terry Pluto
Both Cleveland and Detroit enter the final day of the regular season tied at 87-74 atop the AL Central, but the Guardians hold the head-to-head tiebreaker advantage over the Tigers. Cleveland controls its own destiny for the division crown. A Guardians win or a Detroit loss makes Cleveland the AL Central champions for the third time in four years.
The Tigers have watched their division lead completely evaporate. Detroit surrendered a once insurmountable lead, but also lost the season series to the Guardians, eliminating their ability to win any potential tiebreaker with Cleveland.
For the Tigers to claim the division title, they need the Rangers to defeat the Guardians on Sunday while Detroit takes care of business against the Red Sox.
Playoff seeding adds another layer of nuance to Sunday’s games. If the Guardians fail to win the division, they would be the sixth seed due to losing the tiebreaker to Boston.
Detroit could potentially secure the fifth seed and a date with New York in the wild card round. If the Tigers defeat the Red Sox on Sunday, both teams would finish with 88 wins. Detroit owns the tiebreaker by winning the season series between the two clubs. Should Cleveland also win Sunday to take the division and earn the third seed, the Tigers and Red Sox would claim the fifth and sixth seeds, respectively.