It’s back-to-school time, and that means the most important stretch of the MLB season is at hand. The Cleveland Guardians were in danger of being dismissed from the class of postseason contenders, but their recent seven-game winning streak has kept them in the mix.
The Guardians took advantage of the opportunity at hand, winning eight of nine games against some of the worst teams in the majors. After taking two of three from the San Francisco Giants, Cleveland swept a six-game road trip against the Colorado Rockies and Los Angeles Angels.
It now closes the month and enters September on a 10-game homestand. It started with a disappointing shutout loss to the Kansas City Royals on Friday, but despite that, the Guardians have a two-game lead in the AL Wild Card race and are within striking distance of the first-place Chicago White Sox in the AL Central.
With that in mind, the Guardians have earned a notable report card with one month to go, as Bleacher Report has given them a B-minus grade.
“Things were looking bleak two weeks ago, but the Guardians made the most of their nine consecutive games against the Giants, Rockies and Angels, vaulting back into sole possession of the AL’s final wild card spot. We shall see if it’s the beginning of one of their patented strong finishes or just a blip where they happened to find some offense for a change against bad teams,” Kerry Miller wrote.
Cleveland was on its way to a much worse grade for much of August. After entering the All-Star break tied for first place with the White Sox, the Guardians went 9-19 to fall into fourth place in the division and toward the back of the pack in the crowded wild-card field.
But since then, they have shown the form that helped them rally from 11 games behind in September last year to win the AL Central. They do not have that daunting a task ahead of them this time, as they are 3.5 games behind Chicago with 27 to play.
After struggling all season, if the offense can keep up the performance that led to 41 runs scored during the winning streak, the Guardians should be a major threat, thanks to a durable starting rotation led by Gavin Williams and Parker Messick. Trade deadline acquisition Foster Griffin has won his past three decisions and will start against the Royals on Saturday.
The Guardians have a crucial three-game series against the White Sox coming up on Sept.14-16 at Progressive Field, and it could determine who has the edge in the division over the final two weeks of the campaign.
NEXT: Guardians Draw Buzz Among MLB's Postseason Dark Horses
