The Cleveland Guardians have a golden opportunity to make a big jump in the postseason standings.
They’re just 2.5 games behind the Seattle Mariners in the race for the final playoff berth.
And with 20 games left to go in the regular season, the door is wide open.
More than that, they’re about to square off with the Kansas City Royals, another team that’s trying to get to that coveted wild-card spot.
With that in mind, former team star Carlos Baerga let the fans know that there are big hopes in this series, and he talked about the Guardians’ chances of getting it done:
“We have the opportunity to do it. We want the fans to be at the ballpark. We want everybody to be ready because it’s gonna be a very, very nice thing. Logan Allen is getting right on Bergert, and Gavin Williams against Seth Lugo. Bergert is pitching good. Lugo hasn’t pitched good this year, so we can take a batter to that,” Baerga said.
"We have the opportunity to do it. WE NEED THE FANS AT THE BALLPARK." #GuardsBall@BaergaCarlos wants to see every last one of you at Progressive Field this week.
presented by @FanDuel pic.twitter.com/wIakplg76u
— Carlos Baerga Show (@BaergaShow) September 8, 2025
The Guardians need to approach this series as if it were a World Series.
Adopting and embracing that type of postseason mindset will be crucial for the final stretch of the season, and it will help them get right into a rhythm when (if) they actually make the playoffs.
Sweeping the season series with the Royals will not only help them close the gap between them and the Mariners, but also nearly eliminate one of their direct rivals for that final postseason ticket from the running.
It won’t be easy; anybody can beat anybody on any given night in the most competitive baseball tournament on Earth, but the Guardians are the better team, at least on paper, and they’ve already shown what they can do when they’re at their best.
Conversely, failing to take care of business in this series would be very difficult to overcome at this point in the season, so it’s now or never for Stephen Vogt’s team.
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