The Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers both are headed to the playoffs. Which team wins the American League Central Division, however, remains undetermined.
Logan Allen (8-11, 4.14 ERA) will take the ball for the Guardians against the Texas Rangers and fellow left-hander Patrick Corbin (7-11, 4.34 ERA) in the regular-season finale Sunday in Cleveland.
If the Guardians (87-74) beat the Rangers (81-80), they will win the division. The same is true if the Tigers (87-74) lose at the Boston Red Sox — or if Cleveland and Detroit both win or both lose.
The Tigers would seal first place with a win, coupled with a Guardians loss. The division champion will have home-field advantage for all three potential games in the AL wild-card round.
“It’s not over, we’re not done,” Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said in the champagne-soaked home clubhouse. “We’re not going to stop. We’re going to keep working and keep pushing.”
The Guardians clinched their second straight postseason berth Saturday in a most unusual manner, beating Texas 3-2 when C.J. Kayfus was hit by a Robert Garcia pitch with the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth inning. Fellow rookie Petey Halpin scored.
Cleveland became the fourth team in history to reach the playoffs in the same year that it had a 10-game losing streak, joining the 1951 New York Giants, 1982 Atlanta Braves and 2017 Los Angeles Dodgers. They were 10 1/2 games behind the Tigers in the Central as September opened.
“With the way our season has gone, a walk-off hit by pitch seemed like a pretty good way to do it,” Guardians president Chris Antonetti said, laughing. “It seemed fitting. But that’s how we need to win, we need the whole roster.”
They also benefited from Vogt’s gut feeling to insert seldom-used outfielder Johnathan Rodriguez in the lineup as the cleanup hitter, despite his .167 average and one career homer in 97 at-bats. He spent much of the season at Triple-A Columbus.
Rodriguez belted a two-run homer in the first inning off Jacob Latz, then drew a walk against closer Garcia with two down in the ninth. Halpin pinch ran for him and eventually came around to score.
“Sometimes you just got to go on a hunch and Jonathan’s been known to hit left-handed pitching,” Vogt explained. “And honestly, he’s had really good bats in Columbus (hitting .312 in 87 games).”
The 25-year-old Rodriguez said Vogt told him he would get the opportunity before leaving the ballpark Friday. He credited his wife, who was in attendance, for giving him the confidence to get it done.
“I showed the lineup to my wife,” Rodriguez said through an interpreter. “She said just to play like you did at Triple-A.”
Allen has only faced Texas once, giving up nine runs in five innings in a 10-0 loss on Aug. 23. Corbin is 1-1 with a 4.03 ERA in four career starts against Cleveland.
Texas is seeking to finish above .500 for just the second time in nine years, the other occurring in 2023 when it won the World Series title.
Second baseman Marcus Semien and shortstop Corey Seager were huge for that squad but were limited by injuries this season. Semien played in just 127 games, Seager 102.
“We won the World Series, so I’d say their time here has been a success,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “We regressed last season, but there are some things you can’t control like injuries they’ve had this year.”
–Field Level Media
