Guardians vs Tigers - Breaking down the AL Central showdown in the ALDS

After a few days of waiting to find out who their opponent will be, the Cleveland Guardians now know that they will be welcoming an AL Central foe to town this coming Saturday. Following their two-game sweep of the Houston Astros, the Detroit Tigers will be Cleveland's opponent in the American League Division Series beginning this weekend.

As division rivals, these two teams have already seen plenty of each other this season, and they know each other quite well. But which team has the advantage in this series?

Head-to-head matchup

The Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers faced each other 13 times this season, and it was a near split between the two ballclubs. Cleveland won seven games compared to Detroit's six. In those matchups, the Tigers do hold a 10-run advantage in total runs scored (60-50), but most of that comes from a 10-1 loss to Detroit in mid-July. When that game is removed from the equation, it is only a two-run difference between the two ballclubs, which is a better indicator of how close their matchups were this season.

Expecting anything other than a close series would be a mistake. These two teams have plenty of information on each other and have played their fair share of close matchups this season. Hopefully, Cleveland's success against Detroit in the regular season carries over into the postseason, allowing the Guardians to advance.