An unequivocal sign that we are approaching the end of the 2026 MLB regular season is that magic numbers for teams on the verge of making the playoffs, such as the Cleveland Guardians, are starting to appear.
In baseball, and in sports in general, the magic number is the combined number of wins by a team and losses by the second-place squad needed to guarantee a postseason spot or a division title. The Guardians, after beating the Boston Red Sox 3-2 on Tuesday night, moved closer to their goal, which is securing their third straight AL Central crown.
The Chicago White Sox defeated the Kansas City Royals and stayed just one game behind the Guardians, but as long as Cleveland wins out, they will secure their main objective.
Insider Paul Hoynes detailed the exact magic number for the Guardians to secure a postseason berth and the division title. They are awfully close to the former.
“The Guardians (82-75) maintained their one-game lead over second-place Chicago (81-76) in the AL Central. The White Sox defeated the Royals, 14-11, on Tuesday night, so the Guardians’ magic number to clinch the AL Central dropped from six to five. The Guardians’ magic number is down to two to clinch a playoff spot. That could happen on Wednesday night,” Hoynes wrote.
Pay special attention to the last part of Hoynes’ message. If Cleveland wins on Wednesday night against the Red Sox and the Texas Rangers, the closest team in the American League standings without a postseason spot loses, the Guardians will be in October.
If they manage to clinch a spot, it will be the eighth time in the last 11 seasons that the Guardians make the playoffs. The only years it didn’t happen in the last 10 years have been 2019, 2021, and 2023.
They have been one of the most consistently successful teams in the junior circuit in the last decade, and they have another group of talented young stars to rely on this time around. The Guardians are not going away easily and, having won 21 of their last 30 games, they might just be peaking at the right time.
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