CLEVELAND >> Midwest neighbors and mostly friendly division rivals, Detroit and Cleveland have played 2,326 times since their first game on May 3, 1901.

Never once have they met in the postseason in 123 years. That changes today. It’s finally happening.

“This will be the best commute in my playoff history,” joked Tigers manager A.J. Hinch, noting the short flight over Lake Erie. “Two proud cities in a great part of the country, more so in the summer than the winter. You’re going to see packed stadiums on both sides. It’s good for baseball.”

Welcome to the Surprise Series.

Two of three AL Central teams still alive — along with the big-bankroll New York Yankees — in these playoffs, the Tigers and Guardians, both of whom entered 2024 with modest expectations, will meet in Game 1 of the AL Division Series at Progressive Field in a matchup that didn’t seem possible just weeks ago.

Cleveland will start Tanner Bibee in the opener while Hinch counters with Tyler Holton before turning it over to his bullpen and triggering “pitching chaos” as he calls the strategy that turned Detroit’s season around.

When they last visited Progressive Field for a series in late July, the Tigers were five games under .500, 14 back of first-place Cleveland in the division and on the verge of making several trades that seemed to signal surrender.

From the outside, the outlook was gloomy.

But the Tigers had confidence in their roster, and energized by some minor leaguers and getting some key players healthy, they’ve become baseball’s hottest — and most dangerous — team.

Detroit went 31-13 down the stretch to earn a wild-card spot before sweeping AL West champion Houston on its home field to advance.

Hinch smiled when asked if he could have imagined in July returning to Cleveland in October to play for a spot in the ALCS. He knew there was potential in his group, he just needed to find a way to tap into it.

“We believed in our talent. We believed in our young players,” he said. “We felt like we were getting better. A couple big wins here creates a little more belief, and then you win a tough series against playoff-caliber teams, and that creates even more belief.

“And you look up, and we were right in the thick of things as we got into the middle of September. Still, I thought a lot of people were wondering when was it going to fade, when was it going to fall off, when was it going to be a nice story but maybe not our time. But that was all outside our building.

“So we just kept at it and found ourselves in a really good position to make it to October and get to the first playoff series in a while.”

And now that they’ve made it this far, the Tigers don’t want to stop.

Same goes for the Guardians.