DETROIT -- The Guardians willed themselves back into the postseason picture on multiple occasions this summer when their playoff chances waned. A 10-game losing streak in July? A 1-9 stretch in August? They’ve overcome it.
And here they sit in mid-September with their hopes very much alive. Cleveland opened the penultimate week of the regular season still in contention for an American League Wild Card spot, and if Tuesday was any indication, the Guardians aren’t ready to hand over the AL Central to the division-leading Tigers just yet.
Cleveland knocked off the Tigers, 7-5, in the opener of a critical three-game series at Comerica Park on Tuesday, behind a four-run 10th inning.
After Cade Smith surrendered a game-tying solo home run to Kerry Carpenter in the ninth, the Guardians scored four runs in the 10th on five hits, four of them for extra bases. In doing so, Cleveland became the first team to tally four extra-base hits in an extra inning this season.
At 79-71, the Guardians are eight games over .500 (tied for a season high) for the first time since May 13, when they were 25-17.