Guardians defy odds with historic comeback for AL Central lead

CLEVELAND (AP) — Steven Kwan wasn’t looking at the American League Central standings in early July when the Cleveland Guardians were eight games under .500, in fourth place and 15 1/2 games behind the Detroit Tigers.

The All-Star outfielder wasn’t about to look on Wednesday night, even though the Guardians have staged the biggest comeback in baseball history.

Cleveland moved into sole possession of first place with a 5-1 victory over Detroit and became the first major league team to overcome a deficit of 15 1/2 games and take the lead in either division or league play, beating the Detroit Tigers 5-1 on Wednesday night.

Cleveland (86-72) has a one-game lead over Detroit (85-73) with four games to play. The Guardians also have the tiebreaker by taking the season series. The last time the Guardians had sole possession of the division was on April 22, when they were 14-9 and a half-game ahead of the Tigers.

The 1914 Boston Braves were 15 games back in the National League on July 4 and rallied to win by 10 1/2 games according to Elias. Since baseball went to division play in 1969, the biggest deficit overcome was 14 games by the 1978 New York Yankees to win the AL East.