DETROIT -- You wanted a pennant race? You got one.

The Detroit Tigers (85-68) are still in first place in the American League Central with nine games to play, but their lead is more precarious than anyone could have imagined a few weeks ago. There will be no coasting to the finish line.

The Cleveland Guardians (81-71) completed a three-game sweep at Comerica Park with a 3-1 win on Thursday afternoon , tightening the race and dropping Detroit’s margin to 3 1/2 games.

“These are tough times when you go through these stretches at the wrong time of the year,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said.

He summed up the series thusly: “We got our ass kicked in pretty much every aspect.”

The Tigers and Guardians will meet again in Cleveland in five days in a series that could decide the division. But

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