The Cleveland Guardians defeated the Chicago White Sox Thursday night as they continue to inch closer to the postseason.
With the Guardians 4-2 win over the White Sox Thursday night they continue to pile up wins as the season comes to a close. Cleveland is now 83-67 on the year and have won eight of their last 10 games, nine of which were against Chicago and Minnesota. Taking care of business against two other teams who were in the mix for the division title and postseason play down the stretch has propelled the upstart Guardians to having a 99.9% chance of making the postseason. Meanwhile the White Sox sit at 1% and the Twins are at less than 0.1% according to the playoff odds on ESPN. This stretch of play is very impressive, but it is deeper than that.
Their current winning ways can be traced back to their extra-innings win over the Kansas City Royals on September 5th. Since that point the Guardians are 15-3 and have rocketed up the American League Central standings. Cleveland played 15 games against division opponents during that stretch, winning 12 along the way. Taking care of business during this stretch is much more impressive considering what transpired over the previous 10 games. Cleveland was just 2-8 from August 25th-September 4th, finding themselves on the wrong end of the final score against Seattle and Baltimore. Being able to recover and play as well as they have after what many thought was a death blow to their season is nothing short of impressive.
As the American League Central crown appears to be a near certainty and postseason play is on the horizon, it is important to appreciate how far this team has come. The Guardians have moved on from players in order to construct the roster they currently have. While the team is not free from warts, they have made the most of the team as currently constructed. Regardless of how the postseason plays out this has been a successful season for this ball club.
