Cleveland Indians Head to Detroit on Cusp of Clinching Divisional Title

The Cleveland Indians have a chance to clinch the American League Central Division crown against their biggest rival this week in Detroit.

The Cleveland Indians are going to have to move their party the motor city.

The Indians had an opportunity to clinch the American League Central Division outright on Sunday, but they dropped the series finale against the Chicago White Sox. The Tribe’s magic number now stands at one, meaning that they just need to win one game during their four game series against the Detroit Tigers to get that all important “y” next to their name in the division standings. Any win over the Tigers will clinch the Indians’ eighth AL Central crown and first since 2007.

“You want to do it in front of the home crowd,” Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis said, per MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian and Scott Merkin. “It would’ve been fun to give high-fives down the line, all that stuff, but we’ll push it back until tomorrow in Detroit, hopefully.”

The Indians have taken care of business against division opponents this year, going 45-23 against them. The Tigers haven’t had nearly as much success , as they are 36-35.

Detroit’s playoff picture is a much more hazy than the Cleveland’s, as its site 1.5 games behind the Baltimore Orioles for the second wild card spot entering play on Monday, and is one of a handful of teams still in the hunt.

So let’s take a look at what to expect from what will hopefully be a time for celebration for the Tribe in the Motor City.