Game Report - September 25, 2025 - Tigers 4, Guardians 2
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Steve Bielawski
Sep 26, 2025, 12:18:55 AM (4 days ago) Sep 26
to Tigers List
> Detroit Tigers 4, Cleveland Guardians 2 - final
Ladies and gentlemen, our long national nightmare is over. The Tigers have won a game again.
Jahmai Jones led things off with a lead-off home run in the top of the first. One out later, Wenceel Perez homered, making it 2-0.
In the top of the second, Dillon Dingler doubled, and scored on a single by Javy Baez.
In the bottom of the first, Gabriel Arias walked, went to second base on a ground out, and scored on a two-out double by C.J. Kayfus.
Riley Greene led off the top of the fourth with a home run.
In the bottom of the eighth, Austin Hedges singled to lead off the inning, and scored on a double with two outs by Jose Ramirez.
The Tigers and Guardians are again tied for the lead in the American League Central Division. Only three games remain in the regular season. The Tigers (86-73) will play the Red Sox (87-72) in Boston. The Red Sox lost tonight to the Blue Jays. The Guardians will host the Texas Rangers (80-79), who are out of the wild card race. The Yankees (91-68) have the best record of any team which did not win its division. The only other team which has not been eliminated are the Houston Astros (85-74). The Astros also won tonight, beating the Athletics, 11-5, in Sacramento. Ideally, the Tigers want to win one more game than the Guardians, thus winning the A.L. Central. (The Guardians won the season series, eight games to five.) The next best thing is to either win as many games as or one game (or two games) more than the Houston Astros win. The Astros are playing the Angels (71-87) in Anaheim. The key is for the Tigers to win.
> Detroit Tigers AB R H RBI HR BB K AVG OBP SLG
> J. Jones DH 3 1 1 1 1 0 0 .276 .378 .545
Homered to left in the first.
Was safe on a throwing error in the fifth.
> K. Carpenter PH-DH 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .252 .292 .500
> J. Malloy PH-DH 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .212 .344 .293
> G. Torres 2B 5 0 1 0 0 0 1 .258 .362 .392
Singled up the middle in the fifth.
> W. Perez RF 3 1 1 1 1 2 1 .247 .311 .440
Homered to left-centre in the first.
Walked to load the bases in the fifth.
Walked again in the ninth.
> S. Torkelson 1B 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 .240 .333 .459
Walked in the seventh.
In the KIITI club, with two strikeouts.
> R. Greene LF 3 1 1 1 1 1 2 .262 .317 .500
Homered to right in the fourth.
Walked in the seventh.
> A. Ibanez 3B 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 .228 .282 .347
nothing.
> Z. McKinstry PH-3B 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 .261 .336 .442
Singled up the middle in the sixth, but was caught stealing.
> D. Dingler C 4 1 1 0 0 0 1 .276 .324 .425
Doubled to right in the second inning and scored.
> P. Meadows CF 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 .210 .284 .331
Walked in the sixth.
> J. Baez SS 4 0 2 1 0 0 1 .254 .281 .393
Singled to right in the second inning
to drive in Mr. Dingler.
Beat out an infield single in the sixth.
> team 35 4 8 4 3 5 10
Four runs will win some games and lose other games.
Four runs were enough to win this game.
> 2B: Dingler (21, Messick)
> HR: Jones (7, 1st inning off Messick 0 on, 0 Out);
> Pérez (13, 1st inning off Messick 0 on, 1 Out);
> Greene (36, 4th inning off Messick 0 on, 0 Out)
> RBI: Báez (53), Jones (19), Pérez (43), Greene (111)
> 2-Out RBIL Báez, J.
> Team LOB: 9
> Team RISP: 1-6 (Báez 1-1, McKinstry 0-1, Meadows 0-1,
> Greene 0-1, Carpenter 0-1, Torkelson 0-1)
> CS: McKinstry (5, 2nd base by Festa/Hedges)
> Cleveland Guardians AB R H RBI HR BB K AVG OBP SLG
> S. Kwan LF 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 .275 .333 .379
Contained.
> G. Valera DH 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 .222 .333 .444
Collared.
> J. Rodriguez PH 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .167 .214 .303
> D. Schneemann PH-DH 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .210 .288 .361
Continued the 0-fer from the DH spot.
> J. Ramirez 3B 3 0 1 1 0 1 0 .284 .361 .508
> K. Manzardo 1B 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 .232 .312 .449
Cornered.
> G. Arias SS 3 1 0 0 0 1 1 .218 .272 .358
Corralled.
> A. Martinez CF 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 .226 .268 .362
Capsized.
> C. Kayfus RF 2 0 2 1 0 0 0 .229 .298 .432
> J. Noel PH-RF 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .154 .176 .273
> B. Naylor PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .194 .282 .376
> B. Rocchio 2B 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .234 .293 .335
Curtailed.
Six of seven Guardians were aboard the 0-fer Express.
> A. Hedges C 3 1 2 0 0 0 1 .157 .247 .275
> team 32 2 5 2 0 2 8
Not enough to win this game.
> 2B: Ramírez (34, Finnegan); Kayfus 2 (10, Hurter, Melton)
> RBI: Ramírez (85), Kayfus (18)
> 2Out RBI: Kayfus; Ramírez, Jo.
> Team LOB: 5
> Team RISP: 2-6 (Ramírez 1-1, Rocchio 0-2, Kayfus 1-1, Manzardo 0-2)
> E: Ramírez (13, throw)
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Detroit Tigers (86-73, 40-38 road) 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 - 4 8 0
> Cleveland Guardians (86-73, 43-35 home) 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 - 2 5 1
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Tigers win! The Tigers win! The Tigers win!
> Detroit Tigers IP H R ER BB K HR PC-ST ERA
> T. Melton 3.2 2 1 1 2 1 0 49-31 2.76
He did not pitch long enough to get the win, or a quality start,
but he did what the Tigers were hoping he would do.
More specifically, he gave the Tigers a chance to win.
> B. Hurter (W, 4-3) 1.1 1 0 0 0 2 0 19-14 2.47
> T. Kahnle (H, 16) 1.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 13-10 4.31
Did their jobs.
> T. Holton (H, 17) 1.0 1 1 1 0 1 0 9-6 3.72
> K. Finnegan (H, 3) 0.2 1 0 0 0 1 0 10-9 3.42
Nothing that the team could not handle.
> W. Vest (S, 22) 1.0 0 0 0 0 3 0 12-9 3.06
Did his job.
> team 9.0 5 2 2 2 8 0 112-79
> First-pitch strikes/Batters Faced:
> Melton 10/15; Hurter 4/5; Kahnle 4/4;
> Holton 2/4; Finnegan 3/3; Vest 2/3
> Called strikes-Swinging strikes-Foul balls-In play strikes:
> Melton-7-2-10-11; Hurter-3-3-5-3; Kahnle-3-0-3-4;
> Holton-2-1-0-3; Finnegan-3-2-2-2; Vest-2-2-5-0
> Ground Balls-Fly Balls:
> Melton 2-8; Hurter 2-0; Kahnle 4-0;
> Holton 1-1; Finnegan 1-0
> Game Scores: T Melton 52
> Cleveland Guardians IP H R ER BB K HR PC-ST ERA
> P. Messick (L, 3-1) 5.0 6 4 4 1 7 3 89-61 2.72
He didn't get credit for a quality start, and he got the loss.
> M. Festa 1.0 2 0 0 1 2 0 18-12 4.15
> T. Herrin 1.0 0 0 0 2 0 0 21-11 4.85
> K. Allard 1.1 0 0 0 0 1 0 19-12 2.71
> Z. Kent 0.2 0 0 0 1 0 0 12-5 4.73
Did their jobs.
> team 9.0 8 4 4 5 10 3 159-101
> First-pitch strikes/Batters Faced:
> Allard 2/4; Festa 4/5; Herrin 3/5; Messick 17/23; Kent 1/3
> Called strikes-Swinging strikes-Foul balls-In play strikes:
> Allard-2-4-3-3; Festa-4-3-3-2; Herrin-5-0-3-3;
> Messick-14-12-20-15; Kent-1-1-1-2
> Ground Balls-Fly Balls:
> Allard 1-2; Herrin 1-2; Messick 4-5; Kent 0-2
> Game Scores: P Messick 45
> Venue: Progressive Field, Cleveland, Ohio
> Attendance: 30,942
> Weather: 69 degrees, clear
> Wind: 7 m.p.h., in from left
> Time of Game: 2:27
This game report is brought to you by the Cleveland Barons.
They were the last major-league sports team to go bankrupt,
although technically, they combined their roster with that of the Minnesota North Stars.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tigers beat Guardians 4-2 to end 8-game skid and move back into tie for AL Central lead
By JOE REEDY, Associated Press
Updated 9:16 PM EDT, September 25, 2025
CLEVELAND (AP) — Jahmai Jones led off the game with a home run and the Detroit Tigers snapped an eight-game losing streak, beating Cleveland 4-2 on Thursday night to move back into a tie with the Guardians for the AL Central lead.
Detroit and Cleveland are 86-73 with three games left to play. The Guardians hold the tiebreaker after going 8-5 in the season series.
The Tigers head to Boston, where the Red Sox have a one-game lead for the AL’s second wild card. The Guardians will host Texas, which has lost nine of 10.
Wenceel Pérez and Riley Greene also homered off Cleveland starter Parker Messick (3-1).
Brant Hurter (4-3) got the win, and Will Vest picked up his 22nd save in 29 opportunities.
Troy Melton allowed one run in 3 2/3 innings in what was a bullpen game for the Tigers.
C.J. Kayfus and José Ramírez had RBI doubles for the Guardians, who are 18-6 in September.
Messick allowed four runs in five innings, snapping a 19-game streak where Cleveland’s starting rotation had allowed two or fewer runs in 19 consecutive games, which matched the 2019 Tampa Bay Rays and 1916 New York Giants for the second-longest streak since the mound was moved.
Key moment
Jones drove a sinker from Messick on a full count 400 feet over the wall in left for his third career leadoff home run.
Key stat
Ramírez’s double was his 726th extra-base hit, passing Earl Averill (725) for the most in franchise history. Ramírez has 398 doubles, 43 triples and 285 home runs in his 13-year career.
Up next
Tigers: RHP Casey Mize (14-6, 3.91 ERA) goes on Friday in the opener at Fenway Park.
Guardians: RHP Slade Cecconi (7-6, 4.15 ERA) takes the mound on Friday against Texas.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tigers and Guardians tied atop AL Central with 3 games left
By JOE REEDY, Associated Press
Updated 11:19 PM EDT, September 25, 2025
CLEVELAND (AP) — Detroit manager A.J. Hinch knows the Tigers’ 4-2 win over Cleveland Thursday night counts as only one game in the standings.
However, the victory gave the Tigers plenty of momentum going into the final series of the regular season.
“Everybody needs to see a little bit of positivity in the game,” Hinch said. “I think everybody takes a collective breath and say, ‘here we go,’ We know these games matter the most. Even though they count the same, they don’t feel the same because of where we’re at.”
The Tigers and Guardians are both 86-73 and tied atop the American League’s Central Division with three games remaining. The last time the division was remotely close after 159 games was in 2014, when the Tigers had a two-game lead on the Kansas City Royals.
The last time the AL Central was tied at this point was 2006 when the Tigers and Minnesota Twins had 95-64 records.
The Tigers snapped an eight-game losing streak and go into Boston in control of their own destiny. Despite having a 9 1/2 game lead in the division on the morning of Sept. 1, Hinch has tried to keep things focused on the Tigers still having control of a playoff spot despite going 6-15 in September.
Detroit though knows what it is like to be left for dead and all of a sudden get hot at the end to make the postseason. Last season, the Tigers were 55-63 before going 31-13 the remainder of the season to get a wild-card spot.
“This is a weird sport we play. Anything can happen. We’ve seen it with our own eyes. That’s why you have to play all 162 games,” Riley Greene said.
The Tigers swept the Red Sox in a three-game series in Detroit earlier this season. Boston took two of three in its series against Toronto, but lost 6-1 on Thursday.
“We know if we win as many games we can, we’re going to be just fine. We have a good team. We need to play like it,” Hinch said. “Tonight was a good example of what we can bring to the table. Fenway (Park) is going to be an incredibly fun place to play. They are trying to get to the finish line as well, so I expect it to be tough, hard fought games.”
Even though the Guardians were unable to sweep the Tigers for the second time in less than two weeks, they still got what they wanted by taking two out of three games.
“We’re in first place, aren’t we? That sounds good to me,” Cleveland catcher Austin Hedges said. “We talk about winning series. We did that. If we win every series moving forward, we win the world championship.”
The Guardians — who are 18-6 in September — play a Texas Rangers squad that has dropped 9 of 10. However, Texas swept the Guardians in a three-game weekend series last month. The Rangers though will be without their key stars.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled with the way our guys played these last three days,” manager Stephen Vogt said. “We played a great series. Our goal is to win series. We talk about it all year long and we won the series, so we got to do that one more time. We got to win a series this weekend and see what happens.”
If Cleveland and Detroit end up tied after Sunday’s games, the Guardians have the tiebreaker with a 8-5 advantage in the season series and would host a wild-card series starting Tuesday.
Cleveland and Detroit also have a one-game lead on Houston for the final wild-card spot.
The Guardians and Tigers also hold the tiebreak over the Astros. Both teams have a magic number of two to clinch a postseason spot.
Ladies and gentlemen, our long national nightmare is over. The Tigers have won a game again.
Jahmai Jones led things off with a lead-off home run in the top of the first. One out later, Wenceel Perez homered, making it 2-0.
In the top of the second, Dillon Dingler doubled, and scored on a single by Javy Baez.
In the bottom of the first, Gabriel Arias walked, went to second base on a ground out, and scored on a two-out double by C.J. Kayfus.
Riley Greene led off the top of the fourth with a home run.
In the bottom of the eighth, Austin Hedges singled to lead off the inning, and scored on a double with two outs by Jose Ramirez.
The Tigers and Guardians are again tied for the lead in the American League Central Division. Only three games remain in the regular season. The Tigers (86-73) will play the Red Sox (87-72) in Boston. The Red Sox lost tonight to the Blue Jays. The Guardians will host the Texas Rangers (80-79), who are out of the wild card race. The Yankees (91-68) have the best record of any team which did not win its division. The only other team which has not been eliminated are the Houston Astros (85-74). The Astros also won tonight, beating the Athletics, 11-5, in Sacramento. Ideally, the Tigers want to win one more game than the Guardians, thus winning the A.L. Central. (The Guardians won the season series, eight games to five.) The next best thing is to either win as many games as or one game (or two games) more than the Houston Astros win. The Astros are playing the Angels (71-87) in Anaheim. The key is for the Tigers to win.
> Detroit Tigers AB R H RBI HR BB K AVG OBP SLG
> J. Jones DH 3 1 1 1 1 0 0 .276 .378 .545
Homered to left in the first.
Was safe on a throwing error in the fifth.
> K. Carpenter PH-DH 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .252 .292 .500
> J. Malloy PH-DH 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .212 .344 .293
> G. Torres 2B 5 0 1 0 0 0 1 .258 .362 .392
Singled up the middle in the fifth.
> W. Perez RF 3 1 1 1 1 2 1 .247 .311 .440
Homered to left-centre in the first.
Walked to load the bases in the fifth.
Walked again in the ninth.
> S. Torkelson 1B 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 .240 .333 .459
Walked in the seventh.
In the KIITI club, with two strikeouts.
> R. Greene LF 3 1 1 1 1 1 2 .262 .317 .500
Homered to right in the fourth.
Walked in the seventh.
> A. Ibanez 3B 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 .228 .282 .347
nothing.
> Z. McKinstry PH-3B 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 .261 .336 .442
Singled up the middle in the sixth, but was caught stealing.
> D. Dingler C 4 1 1 0 0 0 1 .276 .324 .425
Doubled to right in the second inning and scored.
> P. Meadows CF 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 .210 .284 .331
Walked in the sixth.
> J. Baez SS 4 0 2 1 0 0 1 .254 .281 .393
Singled to right in the second inning
to drive in Mr. Dingler.
Beat out an infield single in the sixth.
> team 35 4 8 4 3 5 10
Four runs will win some games and lose other games.
Four runs were enough to win this game.
> 2B: Dingler (21, Messick)
> HR: Jones (7, 1st inning off Messick 0 on, 0 Out);
> Pérez (13, 1st inning off Messick 0 on, 1 Out);
> Greene (36, 4th inning off Messick 0 on, 0 Out)
> RBI: Báez (53), Jones (19), Pérez (43), Greene (111)
> 2-Out RBIL Báez, J.
> Team LOB: 9
> Team RISP: 1-6 (Báez 1-1, McKinstry 0-1, Meadows 0-1,
> Greene 0-1, Carpenter 0-1, Torkelson 0-1)
> CS: McKinstry (5, 2nd base by Festa/Hedges)
> Cleveland Guardians AB R H RBI HR BB K AVG OBP SLG
> S. Kwan LF 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 .275 .333 .379
Contained.
> G. Valera DH 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 .222 .333 .444
Collared.
> J. Rodriguez PH 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .167 .214 .303
> D. Schneemann PH-DH 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .210 .288 .361
Continued the 0-fer from the DH spot.
> J. Ramirez 3B 3 0 1 1 0 1 0 .284 .361 .508
> K. Manzardo 1B 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 .232 .312 .449
Cornered.
> G. Arias SS 3 1 0 0 0 1 1 .218 .272 .358
Corralled.
> A. Martinez CF 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 .226 .268 .362
Capsized.
> C. Kayfus RF 2 0 2 1 0 0 0 .229 .298 .432
> J. Noel PH-RF 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .154 .176 .273
> B. Naylor PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .194 .282 .376
> B. Rocchio 2B 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .234 .293 .335
Curtailed.
Six of seven Guardians were aboard the 0-fer Express.
> A. Hedges C 3 1 2 0 0 0 1 .157 .247 .275
> team 32 2 5 2 0 2 8
Not enough to win this game.
> 2B: Ramírez (34, Finnegan); Kayfus 2 (10, Hurter, Melton)
> RBI: Ramírez (85), Kayfus (18)
> 2Out RBI: Kayfus; Ramírez, Jo.
> Team LOB: 5
> Team RISP: 2-6 (Ramírez 1-1, Rocchio 0-2, Kayfus 1-1, Manzardo 0-2)
> E: Ramírez (13, throw)
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Detroit Tigers (86-73, 40-38 road) 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 - 4 8 0
> Cleveland Guardians (86-73, 43-35 home) 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 - 2 5 1
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Tigers win! The Tigers win! The Tigers win!
> Detroit Tigers IP H R ER BB K HR PC-ST ERA
> T. Melton 3.2 2 1 1 2 1 0 49-31 2.76
He did not pitch long enough to get the win, or a quality start,
but he did what the Tigers were hoping he would do.
More specifically, he gave the Tigers a chance to win.
> B. Hurter (W, 4-3) 1.1 1 0 0 0 2 0 19-14 2.47
> T. Kahnle (H, 16) 1.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 13-10 4.31
Did their jobs.
> T. Holton (H, 17) 1.0 1 1 1 0 1 0 9-6 3.72
> K. Finnegan (H, 3) 0.2 1 0 0 0 1 0 10-9 3.42
Nothing that the team could not handle.
> W. Vest (S, 22) 1.0 0 0 0 0 3 0 12-9 3.06
Did his job.
> team 9.0 5 2 2 2 8 0 112-79
> First-pitch strikes/Batters Faced:
> Melton 10/15; Hurter 4/5; Kahnle 4/4;
> Holton 2/4; Finnegan 3/3; Vest 2/3
> Called strikes-Swinging strikes-Foul balls-In play strikes:
> Melton-7-2-10-11; Hurter-3-3-5-3; Kahnle-3-0-3-4;
> Holton-2-1-0-3; Finnegan-3-2-2-2; Vest-2-2-5-0
> Ground Balls-Fly Balls:
> Melton 2-8; Hurter 2-0; Kahnle 4-0;
> Holton 1-1; Finnegan 1-0
> Game Scores: T Melton 52
> Cleveland Guardians IP H R ER BB K HR PC-ST ERA
> P. Messick (L, 3-1) 5.0 6 4 4 1 7 3 89-61 2.72
He didn't get credit for a quality start, and he got the loss.
> M. Festa 1.0 2 0 0 1 2 0 18-12 4.15
> T. Herrin 1.0 0 0 0 2 0 0 21-11 4.85
> K. Allard 1.1 0 0 0 0 1 0 19-12 2.71
> Z. Kent 0.2 0 0 0 1 0 0 12-5 4.73
Did their jobs.
> team 9.0 8 4 4 5 10 3 159-101
> First-pitch strikes/Batters Faced:
> Allard 2/4; Festa 4/5; Herrin 3/5; Messick 17/23; Kent 1/3
> Called strikes-Swinging strikes-Foul balls-In play strikes:
> Allard-2-4-3-3; Festa-4-3-3-2; Herrin-5-0-3-3;
> Messick-14-12-20-15; Kent-1-1-1-2
> Ground Balls-Fly Balls:
> Allard 1-2; Herrin 1-2; Messick 4-5; Kent 0-2
> Game Scores: P Messick 45
> Venue: Progressive Field, Cleveland, Ohio
> Attendance: 30,942
> Weather: 69 degrees, clear
> Wind: 7 m.p.h., in from left
> Time of Game: 2:27
This game report is brought to you by the Cleveland Barons.
They were the last major-league sports team to go bankrupt,
although technically, they combined their roster with that of the Minnesota North Stars.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tigers beat Guardians 4-2 to end 8-game skid and move back into tie for AL Central lead
By JOE REEDY, Associated Press
Updated 9:16 PM EDT, September 25, 2025
CLEVELAND (AP) — Jahmai Jones led off the game with a home run and the Detroit Tigers snapped an eight-game losing streak, beating Cleveland 4-2 on Thursday night to move back into a tie with the Guardians for the AL Central lead.
Detroit and Cleveland are 86-73 with three games left to play. The Guardians hold the tiebreaker after going 8-5 in the season series.
The Tigers head to Boston, where the Red Sox have a one-game lead for the AL’s second wild card. The Guardians will host Texas, which has lost nine of 10.
Wenceel Pérez and Riley Greene also homered off Cleveland starter Parker Messick (3-1).
Brant Hurter (4-3) got the win, and Will Vest picked up his 22nd save in 29 opportunities.
Troy Melton allowed one run in 3 2/3 innings in what was a bullpen game for the Tigers.
C.J. Kayfus and José Ramírez had RBI doubles for the Guardians, who are 18-6 in September.
Messick allowed four runs in five innings, snapping a 19-game streak where Cleveland’s starting rotation had allowed two or fewer runs in 19 consecutive games, which matched the 2019 Tampa Bay Rays and 1916 New York Giants for the second-longest streak since the mound was moved.
Key moment
Jones drove a sinker from Messick on a full count 400 feet over the wall in left for his third career leadoff home run.
Key stat
Ramírez’s double was his 726th extra-base hit, passing Earl Averill (725) for the most in franchise history. Ramírez has 398 doubles, 43 triples and 285 home runs in his 13-year career.
Up next
Tigers: RHP Casey Mize (14-6, 3.91 ERA) goes on Friday in the opener at Fenway Park.
Guardians: RHP Slade Cecconi (7-6, 4.15 ERA) takes the mound on Friday against Texas.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tigers and Guardians tied atop AL Central with 3 games left
By JOE REEDY, Associated Press
Updated 11:19 PM EDT, September 25, 2025
CLEVELAND (AP) — Detroit manager A.J. Hinch knows the Tigers’ 4-2 win over Cleveland Thursday night counts as only one game in the standings.
However, the victory gave the Tigers plenty of momentum going into the final series of the regular season.
“Everybody needs to see a little bit of positivity in the game,” Hinch said. “I think everybody takes a collective breath and say, ‘here we go,’ We know these games matter the most. Even though they count the same, they don’t feel the same because of where we’re at.”
The Tigers and Guardians are both 86-73 and tied atop the American League’s Central Division with three games remaining. The last time the division was remotely close after 159 games was in 2014, when the Tigers had a two-game lead on the Kansas City Royals.
The last time the AL Central was tied at this point was 2006 when the Tigers and Minnesota Twins had 95-64 records.
The Tigers snapped an eight-game losing streak and go into Boston in control of their own destiny. Despite having a 9 1/2 game lead in the division on the morning of Sept. 1, Hinch has tried to keep things focused on the Tigers still having control of a playoff spot despite going 6-15 in September.
Detroit though knows what it is like to be left for dead and all of a sudden get hot at the end to make the postseason. Last season, the Tigers were 55-63 before going 31-13 the remainder of the season to get a wild-card spot.
“This is a weird sport we play. Anything can happen. We’ve seen it with our own eyes. That’s why you have to play all 162 games,” Riley Greene said.
The Tigers swept the Red Sox in a three-game series in Detroit earlier this season. Boston took two of three in its series against Toronto, but lost 6-1 on Thursday.
“We know if we win as many games we can, we’re going to be just fine. We have a good team. We need to play like it,” Hinch said. “Tonight was a good example of what we can bring to the table. Fenway (Park) is going to be an incredibly fun place to play. They are trying to get to the finish line as well, so I expect it to be tough, hard fought games.”
Even though the Guardians were unable to sweep the Tigers for the second time in less than two weeks, they still got what they wanted by taking two out of three games.
“We’re in first place, aren’t we? That sounds good to me,” Cleveland catcher Austin Hedges said. “We talk about winning series. We did that. If we win every series moving forward, we win the world championship.”
The Guardians — who are 18-6 in September — play a Texas Rangers squad that has dropped 9 of 10. However, Texas swept the Guardians in a three-game weekend series last month. The Rangers though will be without their key stars.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled with the way our guys played these last three days,” manager Stephen Vogt said. “We played a great series. Our goal is to win series. We talk about it all year long and we won the series, so we got to do that one more time. We got to win a series this weekend and see what happens.”
If Cleveland and Detroit end up tied after Sunday’s games, the Guardians have the tiebreaker with a 8-5 advantage in the season series and would host a wild-card series starting Tuesday.
Cleveland and Detroit also have a one-game lead on Houston for the final wild-card spot.
The Guardians and Tigers also hold the tiebreak over the Astros. Both teams have a magic number of two to clinch a postseason spot.
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