CLEVELAND — 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. 4

Tanner Bibee (12-11) won his third straight start

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