Cleveland, OH - CLEVELAND (AP) — George Valera hit a two-run homer in the third inning, José Ramírez had a two-run double in the seventh and the Cleveland Guardians 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 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.

Tanner Bibee (12-11) won his third

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