The Cleveland Guardians continue to hold up their end of the bargain, even if it gets a little crazy.
After clinching a playoff berth on Thursday night with a 1-0 win, they needed a 12-9 victory in Kansas City over the Royals on Friday night to maintain hold of first place in the AL Central Division heading into the final weekend of the MLB regular season.
The problem for the Guardians is that the Chicago White Sox keep winning, too.
Both teams have already clinched their playoff berths. But the division is still up for grabs.
And this year, the AL Central champ gets an added bonus — a first-round bye in the playoffs. The top-two division champions in each league get a bye, and the AL West winner will finish with a worse record than either Cleveland or Chicago. So whichever gets the division will join the Tampa Bay Rays in advancing straight to the Divisional Series.
Obviously, that’s a big deal, so the Guardians aren’t taking this weekend lightly, and neither are the White Sox.
Whichever team doesn’t win the AL Central will be the 6-seed in the American League and play a best-of-three Wild Card Series at the AL West champ, which could still be either the Houston Astros or Texas Rangers — neither of whom is going to finish the regular season with a winning record.
There’s certainly plenty of reason to want to be the AL Central Division champ, and the Guardians still control their destiny.
Cleveland plays in Kansas City for two more games this weekend, while the White Sox have two more clashes with the lowly Colorado Rockies.
The Guardians are hoping they have enough magic left.
Guardians Magic Number for AL Central Division
The Guardians’ magic number to win the AL Central Division crown remains 2.
That means that any combination of two Guardians wins and White Sox losses this weekend gets the Guardians the division title.
The reason it’s not smaller is because the White Sox hold the tiebreaker. They won the season series, 7-6. So if the teams finish with the same record, it’d be Chicago taking the division.
Guardians Playoff Scenarios
The Guardians are going to the postseason no matter what, but the division victory depends on them remaining even with Chicago this weekend.
If the Guardians go 2-0, they claim the division no matter what.
If it’s 1-1 for Cleveland, they need the White Sox to go 1-1 or worse.
And if the Guardians drop both weekend games, they need the White Sox to do the same in order to maintain the top spot in the division.
There’s a little stress removed by the fact that the Guardians and White Sox are both already safely into the playoffs, but there’s clearly still plenty to play for.
Guardians’ Magic Number for AL Central Division Title Updated