Successful week against AL Central has Cleveland Guardians ranked with MLB's best

The Cleveland Guardians entered this past week at a crossroads of sorts. Lose more than they win against an AL Central-filled slate, and their season would essentially be over. Finish around .500, and they may have just enough to stay in the mix for a little bit longer, but any momentum gained from that could soon dissipate, as that can only keep a team afloat for so long. What this Guardians team needed in the worst way was an undeniably successful week, and they managed to deliver.

After a rain-disrupted stay in Minnesota that resulted in the Guardians splitting their abbreviated two-game series and getting back into the win column for the first time in nearly a week, Cleveland was able to find their level at a time when they needed it most. That was a nice start, but what came next was the highlight of their week.

Cleveland would march into Comerica Park and take three of four games from the Detroit Tigers, narrowly missing a sweep of the team that currently owns the American League's best record. Their overall performance against Minnesota and Detroit played a factor in their placement in a recent MLB Power Ranking, but it was the work of two members of their starting rotation who were specifically mentioned by Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter.

"The Guardians were putting the finishing touches on a season-high, five-game losing streak last Monday, but they responded by taking three of four on the road against a Tigers team that had climbed to No. 1 in these rankings. Tanner Bibee (7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER) and Slade Cecconi (6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER) opened the series with a pair of gems on the mound, and the rotation finally seems to be rounding into form.", wrote Reuter as reasons why the Guardians were the ninth-ranked team in this week's edition of MLB Power Rankings.

Bibee and Cecconi would put together dominant outings in Cleveland's first two games in Detroit, giving the Guardians the jolt they needed at the exact right time, resulting in moving up from their previous spot of 15 a week ago.

Looking at the rest of the division, the Twins are one spot ahead of Cleveland for some bizarre reason, even though the Guardians split their series and went on to defeat a far superior opponent in Detroit in a longer series than the Twins' three-game set with the fourth place Kansas City Royals. Meanwhile, once topping the rankings, Detroit has slipped to five, showing just how close the AL Central is when it comes to overall competitiveness, even if the Twins were wrongly placed ahead of Cleveland.

It's pretty clear that this Guardians team is in it for the long haul, and the rest of the division better keep up. Cleveland's pitching staff is finally performing at the level expected of them entering the season, and their offense has (mostly) found its level, showcasing their ability to score early to establish a lead and late to extend it or even take it. These are two hallmarks of teams that go on to make noise in the postseason, and it sure seems like this version of the Guardians is putting everything together now to make that a possibility later in the season.

For now, the Guardians just need to keep doing what they're doing, and eventually, everything will sort itself properly by the end of the season, with Cleveland hopefully retaking their rightful place atop the AL Central before embarking on what should be another lengthy playoff run.