Just three weeks ago, the Cleveland Guardians fell into a tie with the Kansas City Royals at the top of the AL Central.
In hindsight, that was apparently the wake-up call they needed to snap out of their slump at the time.
After beating the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night, Cleveland’s lead in the AL Central increased to a whopping 7.5 games.
Their magic number to win the division is down to one.
Of course, the Royals loss at the hands of the San Francisco Giants helped propel the situation.
Now, after that ugly moment three weeks ago in which they were on the verge of losing the lead that took months to build, they are about to lock up the division title.
All they need is to win on Saturday, or for Kansas City to lose.
“The Cleveland Guardians can clinch the AL Central today with a WIN or a Royals LOSS,” ESPN Cleveland posted on X.
The Cleveland Guardians can clinch the AL Central today with a WIN or a Royals LOSS pic.twitter.com/SpYRKBGcMw
— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) September 21, 2024
Cleveland will send left-hander Matthew Boyd (2-1, 2.52 ERA) to the mound on Saturday night.
He will try to secure the division title for the team that took a shot on him in June against Mike Mikolas of the Cardinals in St. Louis.
Meanwhile, the Royals will face the Giants in another game the Guardians will pay close attention, too.
Not only the Division title would bring prestige to the organization, but it also puts it in a better position to secure one of the two first-round byes available in the American League.
That is Cleveland’s main goal at this point.
NEXT: Guardians Veteran Accepts Outright Assignment To Triple-A
