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Cal Raleigh and Aaron Judge going for history as AL playoff picture continues to form

USA TODAY Sports’ Gabe Lacques breaks down the storylines to watch in the AL as the MLB seasons winds down.

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The American League Central is deadlocked.

For the first time since April 23, the Detroit Tigers share the lead at the top of the division. What was once a 15½-game lead against the Cleveland Guardians, the reigning division champions, was completely erased Tuesday when the Guardians rallied for a 5-2 win. Now the two teams are tied for first with just five games to play, making Wednesday’s game all the more crucial to their postseason dreams.

USA TODAY Sports will provide updates and highlights for the second game of this three-game series between the Guardians and Tigers:

Cleveland made the most of Brayan Rocchio’s second hit of the game. Rocchio swiped second base as Steven Kwan faked a bunt. Moments later, Kwan hit a line drive to left center that drove home Rocchio. Classic manufacturing a run baseball from the Guardians.

Kwan’s hit chased Tigers starter Jack Flaherty from the game. Flaherty, who is tied for the American League lead in losses (14), is on the hook for this one, too. Tyler Holton came on in relief and recorded the final outs of the inning to minimize the damage. Score: Guardians 3, Tigers 1.

Guardians starter Tanner Bibee is cruising right along, completing a casual 1-2-3 inning. Trey Sweeney popped out, Parker Meadows struck out and Gleyber Torres grounded out to shortstop. Score: Guardians 2, Tigers 1.

Cleveland was unable to add to its lead, going down in order.

Bo Naylor grounded out to shortshop, Gabriel Arias struck out and Daniel Schneemann grounded out to first base. Score: Guardians 2, Tigers 1.

Detroit hitters have done a great job of being patient against Tanner Bibee, who’s now at 80 pitches through four.

Spencer Torkelson led off the inning with a single and then, after a Riley Greene strikeout, Wenceel Perez drew a walk. Zach McKinstry followed with a fielder’s choice to second and Dillon Dingler ended the inning with a fielder’s choice to third to end the threat. Score: Guardians 2, Tigers 1.

Cleveland wasted no time grabbing the lead, and it came from unexpected source.

No. 9 hitter Brayan Rocchio led off the inning with an opposite-field double to left and moved to third on a groundout by Steven Kwan. That brought up rookie designated hitter George Valera, who teed off on the first pitch and sent it over the center-field fence, over a leaping attempt by Parker Meadows. Valera let out a scream as he rounded the bases to celebrate his second career homer. Score: Guardians 2, Tigers 1.

Just like in Tuesday’s series opener, Detroit is the first team to score.

Back-to-back one-out singles in the third inning by Dillon Dingler and Trey Sweeney, the Tigers’ 8-9 hitters, put runners at first and third. Parker Meadows followed with a hard line drive to right, where C.J. Kayfus secured the catch with a dive. Dingler easily tagged up and scored from third. Following another single by Gleyber Torres, Bibee got Kerry Carpenter to ground out to first to snuff further damage. Score: Tigers 1, Guardians 0.

For the second inning in a row, Cleveland got a two-out runner into scoring position but couldn’t chase him home. Jack Flaherty retired Bo Naylor and Gabriel Arias on strikes to lead off the inning, but then Daniel Schneemann hit a hard grounder to first that Spencer Torkelson couldn’t field and it trickled into right field. Schneemann ended up at second, where he was stranded after C.J. Kayfus lined out to left. Score: Tigers 0, Guardians 0.

Tanner Bibee struck out Spencer Torkelson looking to start the second, but then he walked Riley Greene on five pitches. After getting ahead 0-2 against Wenceel Perez, Bibee threw three consecutive balls before getting Perez to hit a smash to second baseman Brayan Rocchio, who gloved and started a 4-6-3 double play to end the top of 2. Score: Tigers 0, Guardians 0.

Jack Flaherty worked around a two-out double by Jose Ramirez by striking out Kyle Manzardo on three pitches. Steven Kwan led off Cleveland’s half of the first with a hard groundout to second, and then George Valera struck out before Ramirez’s 32nd double of the year. Score: Tigers 0, Guardians 0.

Tanner Bibee set down the Tigers 1-2-3 in the first inning on 14 pitches. After getting Austin Meadows to fly out and Gleyber Torres to ground out, Bibee struck out Kerry Carpenter on a diverse pitch mix. Score: Tigers 0, Guardians coming to bat.

Date: Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025Time: 6:40 p.m. ETWhere: Progressive Field in ClevelandTV: FOX Sports Detroit, CLEGuardians.TVStream: Fubo

Stream Tigers at Guardians with Fubo

After a 35-minute weather delay, the Guardians take the field, and the second game of this crucial three-game series is about to begin.

Dreary Cleveland skies have cause the start of this AL Central showdown to be delayed. First pitch is now scheduled for 7:15 p.m. ET.

Cleveland will go with right-hander Tanner Bibee, who has allowed just three earned runs over his last 21â…” innings, which spans three starts. He’s 2-0 during that stretch, and is 11-1 with a 4.34 ERA on the season. He’s faced Detroit twice this year and is 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA in 13 innings. He’s racked up 16 strikeouts with just three walks against the Tigers in 2025.

Detroit’s starter Wednesday will be Jack Flaherty, who is 8-14 with a 4.60 ERA this season. Flaherty has faced the Guardians twice this season, going 0-2 with a 3.09 ERA. His last game against Cleveland came last week in Detroit when he allowed one earned run over five innings, but took the loss.

Steven Kwan, LFGeorge Valera, DHJose Ramirez, 3BKyle Mnazardo, 1BBo Naylor, CGabriel Arias, SSDaniel Schneemann, CFC.J. Kayfus, RFBrayan Rocchio, 2BParker Meadows, CFGleyber Torres, 2BKerry Carpenter, DHSpencer Torkelson, 1BRiley Greene, LFWenceel Perez, RFZach McKinstry, 3BDillon Dingler, CTrey Sweeney, SSAL Central standings

Heading into games on Wednesday, Sept. 24.

Cleveland Guardians: 85-72Detroit Tigers: 85-72Kansas City Royals: 79-78Minnesota Twins: 68-89Chicago White Sox: 58-99MLB playoff bracket

Heading into games on Wednesday, Sept. 24. (*-denotes playoff berth has been clinched)

American League playoff bracket*Toronto Blue Jays 90-67*Seattle Mariners 88-69Cleveland Guardians 85-72*New York Yankees 89-68Boston Red Sox 86-71Detroit Tigers 85-72National League playoff bracket*Milwaukee Brewers 95-63*Philadelphia Phillies 92-65*Los Angeles Dodgers 88-69*Chicago Cubs 88-69*San Diego Padres 87-71New York Mets 81-76