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The Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Guardians begin a three-game series on Tuesday that will give the winner the upper hand in the American League Central division with three games to go.
The Tigers have led the AL Central all season long, but have struggled lately and allowed the Guardians to crawl all the way back.
On the other hand, Cleveland has been the hottest team in baseball since the start of September. The Guardians had a 10 game winning streak, and have won 15 of their last 17 games to trim the gap in the AL Central to just a single game.
A.J. Hinch Remains Confident in His Tigers
Despite everything that could possibly go wrong, going wrong for the Tigers lately, Detroit still controls its own destiny.
The Tigers have lost six straight games and nine of their last 10 games. However, Detroit still leads its division by one game.
"This is absolutely grinding at these guys. It’s not a concern of the work or the conversations or the mood or the vibe," Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said (h/t MLB.com). "It’s a concern about the results, and these guys know it. I love these guys. I’m going to continue to back them because of all the good that we have done and all the good that we can do.
"Despite all of this, what a miserable ride this has been for a short period of time, guess who controls our own destiny? We just have to go out and play."
On July 8th, the Tigers had a 15.5 game lead over the Guardians. Now in the final week of the season, the Tigers only lead the Guardians by 1 game! 🍿
Who will lead the AL Central at the end of this three-game series? Who ya got? 👀 pic.twitter.com/omKYyirglU
The Tigers' manager remains confident in his group, and the Tigers do still have everything in their control. Detroit played phenomenal throughout the first half of the season to get itself into this position.
Hinch's squad has shown the ability to play at a high level, but they need to find it fast, or the fast start could be for nothing.
"I don’t see our guys quitting. I don’t see our guys down. I don’t see our guys pouting. I don’t see our guys conceding. And we shouldn’t," Hinch said (h/t MLB.com). "I’m going to remind everybody that we’re a first-place team. And right now, it’s hard for everybody to look at us that way because of the way the last week went.
— Christian (@Acadian25) September 23, 2025"We’re going to wake up in first place, with our destiny controlled by us, against a team that’s been as hot as you can get in baseball. And we get to play them in a three-game series? Sign me up."
Competitive nature is always at the root of sports, and that's what Hinch is leaning on right now. The Tigers are still one of the best teams in the AL, and now they get a chance to cement that by earning themselves a playoff spot against a Guardians' team trying to rip it away from them.
The last time the Tigers played in Cleveland.
• Series sweep
• Outscored CLE 10-3
• 5 HRs
Capped off by a massive 10th inning in game 3.
pic.twitter.com/u8aWthvcJN
If the Tigers sweep the series with the Guardians, Detroit will win the AL Central. If the Tigers win two out of the three games, they'll need to win two in Boston against the Red Sox or have the Guardians lose two games against the Texas Rangers.
However, if the Guardians take two out of three, Cleveland owns the tie-breaker and controls its own destiny heading into the final series of the season. If the Guardians sweep the Tigers, as they did less than 10 days ago, Cleveland would only need a single win or a Tigers' loss in the final series of the season to win the division.
The Tigers have fallen off a cliff, and the Guardians have surged, but it all comes down to the division foes three-game series that starts on Tuesday to determine which club will make the 2025 postseason.
The Tigers will have Cy Young award favorite Tarik Skubal on the mound against the Guardians' rising young pitcher Gavin Williams.
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