In early September, the Cleveland Guardians were such long shots to overtake the front-running Detroit Tigers in the American League Central that sportsbooks took the odds to win the division off the board.

One month later, the Guardians are AL Central champs, after an odds-defying run that earned them home-field advantage in their wild-card series against the Tigers.

On Sept. 1, Detroit owned a 10.5-game lead over the Guardians and was listed at -20,000 to win their division at ESPN BET, meaning a bettor would have to risk $20,000 on Detroit to win just $100. A spokesperson for ESPN BET said the sportsbook did take "a few bets" on the Tigers at that price but declined to provide specifics. The Guardians were 80-1 to win the division entering September.

Detroit promptly went on a do

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