Guardians sweep Twins, extend division lead

The Cleveland Guardians took care of business in Minnesota as they remain on top of the American League Central.

It was a critical weekend for the Cleveland Guardians as they began a three-game series against the Minnesota Twins. Cleveland was clinging to slight lead in the division and needed to come through with at least a series win against the Twins. Safe to say that the Guardians were able to take care of business in Minnesota as they came out victorious in all three contests.

Cleveland was able to survive a couple of close calls, but were still able to win on the road. The Guardians held a 7-0 lead in Friday’s contest that would eventually be closed with Cleveland winning just be a single run. A lackluster outing from Bryan Shaw Saturday saw Terry Francona be forced to turn to Emmanuel Clase. Minnesota rallied from a 6-0 deficit which saw Tito call on his closer to secure the win. Luckily Sunday was not as drama filled as the Cleveland bullpen was able to hold on to their lead in the ninth this time. Good thing too as the city of Cleveland could not handle any more tension with the Browns hanging on to win in Carolina Sunday afternoon.

After the sweep the Guardians hold a 2.5 game lead in the division. Being able to come out of their series in Minnesota with a larger division lead is huge for Cleveland as they are set to host the Angels for three games before playing nine division games in eight days. Having a slightly margin for error is massive for a team about to head out on their gauntlet of divisional opponents.