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Tigers Officially Blow Biggest Division Lead Ever With Loss in Finale to Red Sox

Originally posted on Detroit Tigers on SI | By Brad Wakai | Last updated Sep 28, 2025 6:14 PM ET

The Detroit Tigers have had nothing but nightmares in September.

Once the owners of a 15.5-game lead back in July, the Tigers went cold at the same time their rival Cleveland Guardians got red-hot. That kept the door open for this AL Central race to get interesting, and with the prolonged struggles of Detroit and two series remaining between the two sides, there was a major opportunity for the lead to be completely blown.

Well, despite having multiple opportunities to win in their final series of the year, the Tigers' loss to the Boston Red Sox on Sunday officially cost them the AL Central title and made them the owners of the biggest blown division lead in Major League Baseball history.

Final: Tigers 3, Red Sox 4
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) September 28, 2025

It's a disappointing conclusion to the regular season for this Detroit squad despite them already securing a spot in the playoffs. After they beat the Guardians in the finale and hit the road to face the Red Sox, they owned a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning before they blew that advantage late in the game.

Unbeknownst to the Tigers, their rivals were losing to the Texas Rangers in their series opener, which would have put Detroit back to the top of the AL Central standings if they were able to hold on. But since they didn't and both teams won on Saturday, it created the situation where the Tigers had to win while the Guardians had to lose.

With Detroit first to play, they took another lead in the fourth inning of Sunday's contest, only for them to blow it once again with a tough bottom half of the frame. And with no other runs being scored the rest of the way, the Tigers lost 4-3 and etched their names into the history book.

Tigers Face Guardians in Wild Card Round

Now, the Tigers have to get ready to face their archrivals once again, with their impending showdown against the Guardians set for the Wild Card round this time after Cleveland eliminated Detroit from the playoffs last year in Game 7 of the American League Division Series.

More of an in-depth preview about that upcoming series will be done here at Detroit Tigers On SI, but the surface level analysis suggests this is going to be a hard one for the Tigers to win. Not only are they playing arguably their worst baseball of the season while the Guardians are playing their best, but they also have a substantial losing record in this matchup this year.

Detroit will have to put all of that and what happened to close out the regular season in the rearview, because if they are able to beat Cleveland and make a deep run in the playoffs, their collapse will be a footnote of their 2025 campaign.