CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Tigers didn’t come to Cleveland to fold, although it almost looked like they might.

After a September slide that had the makings of a collapse remembered in barroom debates for years to come, Detroit came to fight. And on Thursday night at Progressive Field, they delivered the kind of punch that reverberates through standings and scoreboards alike.

With one game, Detroit pulled even. Guardians 86-73. Tigers 86-73. Two teams deadlocked atop the American League Central with three games left in a season that refuses to straighten itself out. Cleveland still owns the tiebreaker, but after an emphatic 4-2 victory that snapped an eight-game losing skid, it’s Detroit that feels more in control of its fate.

“We try to stay grounded in where we’re at, in what we have ahead

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