The Cleveland Guardians have once again, in dramatic fashion secured the AL Central Division crown. According to MLB.com’s Tim Stebbins, Cleveland has won the division title in four of the last five seasons, seven of the past 11, and 14 times in the past 32 seasons.
This particular victory came by way of an 11-5 victory against the Kansas City Royals on Saturday night and some help from the Colorado Rockies who downed the Chicago White Sox 9-6 on Saturday. The Colorado based club even taking some time to joke about recieving thank you cards from the Guardians and the team’s supporters.
Cleveland’s division win gives them the No.2 seed in the playoffs, which gives them an added bonus of a first round bye.
The Guardians sat with a record of 60-65 and trailed the division leading White Sox by six games to begin play on August 17th. Cleveland becomes the first team to win a division title in consecutive seasons despite trailing six games thought 125 games or more in consecutive seasons. That information is courtesy of Elias Sports.
What happened?
Cleveland’s front office were buyers at the trade deadline and acquired players like outfielder Jo Adell, first baseman Nathaniel Lowe, and pitcher Foster Griffin to move them forward to reaching their ultimate goal.
The newcomers and members of the old guard helped propel Cleveland to a record of 16-8 in September. According to Stebbins, the Guardians (.609) have the second best winning percentage in September and October in the MLB, trailing only the Dodgers (.623).
Columbus connection
Former Columbus Clippers Angel Genao and Petey Halpin have also played in helping Cleveland return back to the playoffs as Genao recieved a late call up and has been playing well since his move to the big leagues, while Halpin has been a contributor for the Guards off-and-on throughout the season.
What’s next?
The Guardians have the benefit of just sitting and waiting for the conclusion of the Wild Card series. They will face either the Chicago White Sox or the winner of the AL West (Astro/Rangers) series.