There are summer swoons, late-season fades and there are outright collapses. The Detroit Tigers are in the middle of a collapse for the ages. Even New York Mets fans are impressed by the Tigers’ September implosion.

While Detroit salvaged the last game of its crucial three-game series against the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday, enough damage had been done that Detroit merely got back into a tie for the American League Central lead with that win. The fact that Detroit is now happy to be tied for the AL Central shows how far the Tigers have fallen.

Another thing that shows how far they’ve fallen? The Guardians, who at one point were off the board for betting odds to win the AL Central, are now favored over the Tigers to win it.

Let’s go on a journey through the absurd AL Central race using betting odds as the context to explain the Guardians’ wild comeback.

When the odds came out following the conclusion of the 2024 World Series, the AL Central was a mostly wide-open race. The Guardians were favored, but with +225 odds. Minnesota was next at +260, then Kansas City at +275 and the Tigers at +290. The odds were saying, “Anyone could win, but not the White Sox.”

By April 1, the Tigers were favored to win the division and didn’t give that lead up until surrendering the division lead with Tuesday’s series-opening loss to Cleveland. Near the end of April, the Tigers only had a slender 1 1/2-game lead, but were clearly favored by BetMGM.

Odds to win AL Central on April 29: Tigers -115, Guardians +360

The Guardians were firmly in the AL Central race into May, but gradually kept losing ground as the Tigers built up the best record in the majors (38-20 on May 30).

Odds to win AL Central on May 28: Tigers -300, Guardians +800

Detroit stayed the course and still had the best record in baseball on July 8, and led the division by 14 games. Cleveland was down in fourth place and was 15 1/2 games back, slumping into a 10-game losing streak from June 26-July 6 that concluded with a three-game sweep at the hands of the Tigers. Cleveland’s record dropped to 40-48.

It’s almost perfect that the Tigers’ high-water mark on July 8 and Cleveland’s low-water mark on July 6 lined up so closely on the calendar.

Odds to win AL Central on July 7: Tigers -5000, Guardians +5000

The Tigers’ 1-12 stretch that followed was a warning sign for what was to come. Meanwhile, Cleveland immediately recovered from its 10-game losing streak with an 11-2 run to get back above .500, while at the same time, the Tigers temporarily forgot how to win. Even after that, Detroit was still up by seven games.

Odds to win AL Central on July 27: Tigers -1000, Guardians +1300

Detroit got back on track with a 9-1 run in August. Two days offset from that, the Guardians went 1-9. These teams amusingly managed to be opposites of each other without head-to-head matchups during these runs.

The lead ballooned back up to 11 1/2 games after Detroit picked up a second straight win against Kansas City, which was still in second place, on Aug. 23. Cleveland was 12 1/5 back.

Odds to win AL Central on Aug. 26: Tigers -10000, Guardians +8000

Detroit is 8-20 since that win against Kansas City, including a 1-11 stretch before Thursday’s win.

Before the Tigers fell apart, BetMGM essentially declared the division race over. The AL Central future market was pulled off the board on Sept. 2 and remained that way for multiple weeks.

The Guardians were under .500 as recently as Sept. 4, and Kansas City consistently hovered around .500, not appearing to be a threat to the Tigers.

Odds to win AL Central on Sept. 10: Off the board

Cleveland went 15-1 from Sept. 5-20, including a doubleheader win against Minnesota on Sept. 20 to set up that crucial series against the Tigers earlier this week.

And because the Tigers and Guardians have been living by “Highlander” rules (There can only be one … team winning at a time.), Detroit answered Cleveland’s hot run with a calamitous collapse. The Tigers went 1-9, with the aid of a three-game sweep at the hands of the Guardians in the middle, before traveling to Cleveland for Tuesday’s series opener.

At this point, Detroit still had a 99.9 percent chance of winning the division!

Odds to win AL Central on Sept. 22: Tigers -110, Guardians +145

The Guardians won the first two games in the series to take the division lead for the first time since April 22. Meanwhile, Tigers fans were feeling like Jim Mora, “Playoffs?! I just hope we can win a game!”

Odds to win AL Central on Sept. 24: Guardians -700, Tigers +450

Detroit won the series finale to tie the division again, heading into the final weekend of the regular season. However, Cleveland has the head-to-head tiebreaker, and since there is no Game 163, the Tigers need some help to win the division with three games to go.

Current odds to win AL Central: Guardians -225, Tigers +175

In the divisional era, no team has ever blown a September lead of more than 7 1/2 games and lost the division. Detroit has already blown the lead, but still has a chance to avoid setting an unpleasant bit of baseball history.

(Photo of Jose Ramirez: Jason Miller / Getty Images)