CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Cleveland Guardians play the Detroit Tigers face-to-face with first place in the American League Central division on the line.

Detroit has owned the Central division virtually all season long — at one point leading the Guardians by as many as 15 1/2 games.

But the Guardians have slowly chipped away at Detroit’s lead, despite having several major hurdles to over come. For instance, until recently the Guardians have been among the worst hitting teams in Major League Baseball, suffering a 10-game losing streak in one stretch of the season. Cleveland also lost a starting pitcher (Luis Ortiz)and arguably the best closer in baseball (Emmanuel Clase) to paid leave for an alleged gambling investigation.

Now, with five games left, the Guardians are positioned to make the pl

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