From the shore of Lake Erie to the Kentucky border, baseball’s regular season is set for a dramatic final week in the state of Ohio.
The Cleveland Guardians have a chance to complete the biggest comeback in the history of divisional play. They now trail Detroit by one game in the AL Central after once being 15 1/2 back. At the southern end of the state, Cincinnati pulled into a tie for the final wild card in the National League with the New York Mets — and the Reds have the head-to-head tiebreaker between the two.
No team ever has won a division after being more than 14 games behind, and Cleveland’s 15 1/2-game deficit in early July doesn’t even do this comeback justice. As recently as Sept. 11, Detroit led the division by 9 1/2 over Cleveland. Since then, the Tigers (85-71) have been trapped in a Motown Meltdown, losing nine of 10 while the Guardians (84-72) went on a 10-game winning streak that finally was snapped. Cleveland cut the lead from 9 1/2 games to one in a span of only 10 days.
For the Reds, the situation has looked bleak at various points. They were six games out of a playoff spot on Sept. 6 — and also trailed San Francisco and Arizona — before a New York skid helped the Reds pull within 1 1/2 games less than a week later. The Cincinnati fell three games behind, but a four-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs now has the Reds and Mets even, with the Diamondbacks only a game back of them.
Other races that are coming down to the wire:
— The AL East, where Toronto (90-66) leads the New York Yankees (88-68) by two games. Those teams have the top two records in the American League, so a first-round bye is at stake here.
— The AL West, where Seattle (87-69) leads Houston (84-72) by three — and the Mariners have the tiebreaker. The Astros have not missed the postseason since 2016, but they’re in danger now with the Red Sox (85-71) in play for a wild card along with the AL East and AL Central runners-up.
— San Diego is three games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers atop the NL West, but the Dodgers have the tiebreaker and the teams don’t play each other this week.
Head to head
Detroit will have no choice but to snap out of its funk if it wants to save its season. The Tigers go to Cleveland for three games before finishing the regular season with a series at Boston.
Line of the week
Dominic Canzone went 5 for 5 with three homers and four RBIs to help Seattle to a 12-5 win over Kansas City. That game capped a 10-game winning streak for the Mariners, who have now won 14 of 15 to turn a 3 1/2-game deficit in the division into a three-game lead.
Comeback of the week
Philadelphia rallied from a four-run deficit in the sixth inning to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers. That was after Shohei Ohtani no-hit the Phillies for five innings. He also homered in the game.
Brandon Marsh and Max Kepler both homered during a six-run sixth for Philadelphia, and after the Dodgers tied it at 6, Rafael Marchan hit a three-run homer in the top of the ninth to provide the winning margin. Los Angeles had a 94.1% win probability in the sixth, according to Baseball Savant.
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