Last October, the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Guardians clashed in an epic, five-game battle in the ALDS. Now, almost a year later, they are locked in a different kind of battle – one for American League Central division supremacy – that both teams probably never expected to be in at this point in the season.
At one point in July, the Guardians trailed the Tigers by 15.5 games in the AL Central. Now, that gap is down to 3.5 games. So perhaps it's a good thing the Guardians didn't alter the timeline of their entire franchise at the trade deadline by dealing away a player like Steven Kwan, who extended his on-base streak to 12 games while stealing his 20th base of the season against the Tigers on Wednesday.