Cleveland Guardians prove doubters wrong, take 3 of 4 from Tigers in Detroit

This past weekend was a trial of sorts for the Cleveland Guardians. They had been moderately successful on the year, posting a winning record and managing to remain in the mix for what would be a playoff spot if the season were to come to an end at that time. However, facing the Detroit Tigers, owners of the best record in the American League was going to show whether or not this Guardians team had what it takes to truly compete or if their early-season success was a mirage. By the end of the weekend, one thing was abundantly clear, the Cleveland Guardians are not not the pushovers they were made out to be.

The Guardians marched into Comerica Park last Thursday and promptly showed the Detroit Tigers they are not a team to be overlooked. Cleveland would take the first three games of the series, featuring a couple of wins with final lines that did not accurately portray the level of stress during the contest and a comeback win in extra-innings on Saturday.

Cleveland had a chance to sweep on Sunday, but they ran into the buzzsaw named Tarik Skubal, which promptly shut down their offense in the fourth and final game of their series. Not being able to sweep is a little disappointing, but the focus should be on winning three of four in Detroit against a Tigers team that most thought would dispose of the Guardians with relative ease.

As a result of their successful series at Comerica Park, the Guardians are now four games behind the Tigers in the AL Central, with a 29-23 record on the year. Cleveland is in firm command of second place in the division, holding a slight edge over Minnesota based on head-to-head record (Cleveland is 4-2 against Minnesota this season).

Suddenly, the state of the American League Central division is not a foregone conclusion like some thought this time a week ago. The Tigers are not this invulnerable force sitting atop the division, as they are, in fact, a team that can be beaten.

This was a make-or-break series for the Guardians, and coming out the other side in good shape shows that this team has what it takes to go toe-to-toe with just about any team in Major League Baseball. There are still a few areas that need to be solidified over the next couple of months, but it seems pretty clear that the Guardians have the foundation of a team ready to go on another deep postseason run.