The Cleveland Guardians entered the day with an opportunity to secure a playoff spot, putting their postseason status squarely in focus.
Here’s where the Guardians stand after today’s 1-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox, and what comes next in their push toward the postseason.
The Cleveland Guardians beat Boston in a pitchers duel at Fenway Park, according to MLB.com’s official box score. The win punched Cleveland’s ticket to the American League playoffs for a third straight season, the 19th postseason trip in franchise history, and it came the hard way, with the offense doing just enough and the pitching staff doing the rest.
The Guardians have not won a World Series since 1948, and have played in only four in the 78 years since then, in 2016, 1997, 1995 and 1954.
Cleveland improved to 83-76, a record that locks up at least the No. 6 seed in the American League. The Chicago White Sox clinched their own playoff spot the same night at 82-77, evening up two rosters that will be watching each other’s scoreboard results all weekend.
Reporter Jeff Schudel confirmed the same shutout final, noting the win locked up at least a wild-card berth while pushing Cleveland one game up on Chicago in the Central standings.
Manager Stephen Vogt has now guided Cleveland to the postseason in all three of his seasons at the helm, going 3-for-3 since replacing Terry Francona.
What Cleveland Guardians Must Do to Win the AL Central
Cleveland isn’t actually playing for Wild Card Series home field. That’s not on the table, no matter what happens at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City where they play the final three games of the regular season against the Royals.
The American League’s top two seeds skip the wild-card round entirely on a bye. The No. 3 seed hosts the No. 6 seed in a best-of-three, and the No. 4 seed hosts the No. 5 in the other. Win the division, and Cleveland becomes the No. 2 seed, skipping the wild-card round and reaching home-field only in the ALDS. Finish second, and Cleveland is the No. 6 seed, hitting the road for the wild-card round regardless of how this weekend goes.
The real prize this weekend is the division, not wild-card hosting rights.
Cleveland’s magic number is three to win the AL Central. Chicago owns the head-to-head tiebreaker, so Cleveland can’t win a tie and has to finish outright ahead over three games at the Kansas City Royals. Any combination of Cleveland wins and White Sox losses to Colorado that adds up to three closes out the division. A sweep in Kansas City does it alone.
Cleveland Guardians’ Possible Playoff Opponents
Win the Central, and Cleveland becomes the No. 2 seed with a bye, waiting in the ALDS for the winner of a wild-card matchup between the AL West champion and whichever Central runner-up gets left out — likely the White Sox, Texas Rangers or Houston Astros.
Finish second, and the trip gets tougher fast. Cleveland opens on the road in a best-of-three against the AL West champion, with Texas and Houston separated by half a game as of Thursday and Houston holding the tiebreaker if the two finish even. Survive that round, and the White Sox would likely be waiting anyway, sitting in the ALDS as the No. 2 seed.
Wild Card Series games start Sept. 29. The Division Series follows Oct. 3.
Did the Cleveland Guardians Clinch a Playoff Spot Today? Here’s What Comes Next