DETROIT -- Riley Greene, master of the diving catch, has a form when he knows he can get to a ball if he goes all-out and plays hero. Fittingly, he calls it the Superman dive, spreading his arms like he’s flying but diving down towards the ground to soften the impact on his body.
His attempt at Drake Baldwin’s RBI triple down the left-field line in the fifth inning was not that. He could see the line drive fading away from him, edging ever closer towards the left-field corner as he sprinted after it. When he realized he wouldn’t get to it in stride, he stretched out his glove arm and made a lunging attempt to get underneath the ball, sliding on his right leg as the ball fell just out of his reach and bounced past him.
It was a last-ditch act of desperation to try to stop the add-on run and keep the game within reach. It felt like a microcosm for the Tigers’ week.
The harder the Tigers have tried to chase down a division title, the further it feels like it’s fading from their grasp. The 6-2 loss to Atlanta on Sunday not only marked Detroit’s sixth straight loss -- all at home -- and ninth in 10 games, it gave the Guardians a chance to pull even with the Tigers. But Cleveland fell to Minnesota to help the Tigers maintain their one-game advantage in the AL Central.
A homestand that for weeks looked like a potential coronation for the Tigers’ first division title since 2014 and a dress rehearsal for a Division Series became a winless week that, combined with a Guardians winning streak, erased what had been a 6 1/2-game lead entering Tuesday.
The Tigers head to Cleveland with a one-game lead, still in control of their destiny. Win at least two of three, and Detroit could then wrap up the division in Boston without any help from the Rangers, who visit the Guardians next weekend. Lose the series in Cleveland, and the Tigers either need help in the division or will need to earn a Wild Card spot as a fallback, much like the eventual 2006 AL champions did after the Twins passed them for the division title on the final day of the regular season.