CLEVELAND — The biggest game of the Cleveland Guardians‘ season to date was Tuesday, Sept. 23 at Progressive Field. And the Guardians, who have had wild September, continued their surge.

The Guardians defeated the Tigers 5-2 in a drama-filled game to tie Detroit for first place in the American League, as Cleveland has won 16 of its last 18 games.

With the win, the Guardians hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Tigers heading into the final five days of the MLB regular season. The Guardians and/or Tigers are also in a five-way battle for the three wild card spots.

The Tigers pitched their ace, 2024 Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal, but everything unraveled for him in an unbelievable sixth inning. The Guardians countered with Gavin Williams, who came up big yet again.

Here’s how the game unfolded through our live score updates, analysis and highlights.

The Guardians have caught the Tigers, and with an incredible September, they are in the driver’s seat for the division with five games remaining.

Cade Smith earned the save in the ninth, and the Guardians beat the Tigers 5-2. They’re now tied by record, but the Guardians will hold the tiebreaker the rest of the way.

Amazingly, after being down 15.5 games at one point, Cleveland now controls its own destiny.

Led by Gavin Williams’ 12 strikeouts, the Guardians totaled 19 Ks in the game.

According to a press box announcement, David Fry is undergoing further assessment at Lutheran Medical Center. Updates will be provided as the team receives them. 

The Guardians will take a 5-2 lead to the bottom of the eighth inning. Hunter Gaddis pitched the eighth and walked off the mound with a yell to the crowd, which has been playoff-electric all night. Cade Smith is warming.

It’s almost unexplainable how the Guardians have managed to get to Tarik Skubal and the Tigers at Progressive Field.

In the seventh inning, now with Kyle Finnegan on the mound, Austin Hedges drew a walk, Steven Kwan doubled down the left-field line and Daniel Schneemann made it all count with a line drive single through the left side of the infield, scoring two and giving the Guardians a 5-2 lead.

Aside from the scary moment with Fry, that might have been the most Guards Ball inning of the entire season, and the Guardians have their first lead of the night.

Following Fry’s exit, Tarik Skubal threw a wild pitch that allowed Angel Martinez to score, tying the game.

A balk then moved Jose Ramirez to third base, which was key, as Gabriel Arias grounded out to the right side of the infield to score him and take a 3-2 lead.

The Guardians somehow scored three runs without a single ball leaving the infield. They had a bunt single, a bunt that led to a wild error, an infield single, a wild pitch, a balk and an groundout to take the lead.

Skubal was absolutely electric across six innings, and the Guardians somehow will take a lead into the seventh inning.

A really scary moment in the bottom of the sixth.

While squaring up for a bunt, David Fry was hit square in the face by a Tarik Skubal pitch. He remained down for several minutes and was eventually carted off the field with a towel covering his face. He did wave to the crowd as he exited. The pitch was clocked at 99 mph.

George Valera will finish the at-bat. It was technically a strike, as Fry had the bat out in front.

Skubal was visibly upset with what happened, throwing down his hat and putting both hands on his head. He also paced around the mound as Fry was tended to by trainers.

Given the high-stakes circumstances of this game, Tarik Skubal just tried one of the craziest plays you’ll see, and it failed spectacularly.

With Steven Kwan on first base, Angel Martinez bunted down the first-base line. Skubal fielded it and tried to toss it between his legs as if he was a center snapping it to the quarterback in a shotgun formation, and the ball sailed into shallow right field, putting two runners on.

Jose Ramirez followed with a perfectly-placed ground ball to score a run, making it 2-1.

Riley Greene has had a monster season, and he just drilled a solo home run over the right-field wall to make it 2-0 Tigers in the sixth inning. The Guardians will need a rally soon.

The Tigers loaded the bases against Gavin Williams, but he managed to escape it unharmed, striking out Wenceel Perez to end the inning to keep it a 1-0 score. The crowd erupted.

The Tigers have struck first.

In the top of the third inning, Zack McKinstry and Wenceel Perez came through with back-to-back doubles to make it 1-0 Tigers.

Detroit now has the lead and arguably the best pitcher in baseball on the mound in a pivotal game.

The Guardians made Tarik Skubal work a bit, putting two on, but David Fry grounded into an inning-ending 5-4-3 doubleplay. Skubal threw 18 pitches to get through the inning.

Immediately, this game has a playoff atmosphere.

Gavin Williams sat down the Tigers in order in the first inning, including two via strikeout. While tonight isn’t quite a sellout, it has the feel of the playoff games between these two teams from a year ago.

Below is some pregame information.

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AL Central Division standings Tigers – 85-71 ….. —Guardians – 84-72 … 1AL wild card standings Yankees – 88-68 ….. +4Red Sox – 85-71 …… +1Guardians – 84-72 … —Astros – 84-72 ………. —The other division leaders are the Blue Jays (90-66, East) and Tigers (85-71, Central), and Mariners (86-69, West).Note: Records are before the start of play. Tuesday, Sept. 23.Guardians vs. Tigers games this season 

The Guardians lead the season series 6-4, as the home team has just won one of the previous 10 meetings. The Guardians and Tigers met in Motown a week ago, with Cleveland sweeping Detroit — 7-5 in 10 innings Sept. 16 and 4-0 Sept. 17 and 3-1 Sept. 18. The Tigers swept the Guardians in Cleveland, July 4-6, leaving town with a lead of 15.5 games over the Guardians in the AL Central.

Cleveland Guardians game schedule for the rest of the 2025 MLB season  Wednesday, Sept. 24: vs. Detroit Tigers, 6:40 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25: vs. Detroit Tigers, 6:40 p.m. Friday, Sept. 26: vs. Texas Rangers, 7:10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27: vs. Texas Rangers, 7:15 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 28: vs. Texas Rangers, 3:10 p.m.