The champagne was flowing inside the Cleveland Guardians clubhouse on Saturday night, and Steven Kwan was in the middle of all of it. Moments after Cleveland completed a historic comeback with a 2-0 win over the White Sox in Game 5 of the American League Division Series, Kwan stood among his celebrating teammates with goggles on his head and a smile on his face. The Guardians had just become the first team in franchise history to win a postseason series after losing the first two games, and they did it by winning three straight elimination games. When Kwan was asked how Cleveland managed to pull it off, he did not need long to come up with an answer. He boiled the entire series down to three simple things.
“Resilience, leadership, José Ramírez,” Kwan said.
How did the @cleguardians make the ALCS? 🤔
"Resilience, leadership, José Ramírez" – @skwanzaa 😂 pic.twitter.com/6bjBP9rswz
— TNT Sports U.S. (@TNTSportsUS) October 11, 2026
It was a lighthearted moment in a wild celebration, but Kwan was not wrong about any of the three.
Start with resilience. The Guardians dropped Games 1 and 2 at Progressive Field and managed just three runs in the process, leaving them one loss away from the end of their season. They responded by winning twice in Chicago before taking Game 5 at home. Cleveland became just the eleventh team ever to win a best of five series after losing the first two games, and only the fourth to do it after dropping both of those games at home, joining the 2015 Blue Jays, the 2012 Giants and the 2001 Yankees. That fight should not have surprised anyone who watched this team down the stretch. The Guardians were 70-70 and three games behind the White Sox after a loss on Sept. 3, and they answered by going 15-6 to win the division.
Leadership was just as important. Stephen Vogt set the tone after the Game 2 loss, admitting the Guardians had backed themselves into a corner but insisting this team thrives with its back against the wall. The veterans in the clubhouse followed his lead. Kwan talked about flushing bad games and focusing only on the next one, and Ramírez told rookie Parker Messick during Game 4 that he would turn things around for him before launching a go ahead homer a couple of innings later. When things looked bleakest, the Guardians never seemed to panic.
Then there is the third reason, and it might be the biggest one. Ramírez went hitless in the first two games of the series and had hit just two home runs over his final 54 regular season games after returning from hand surgery in July. Over the final three games, he was the best player on the field. Ramírez went 5-12 with a double, a triple, two homers and seven RBIs, while also making a game saving play at third base in Game 3. His two run homer in Game 5 came against Sean Burke, who had dominated Cleveland all season, and it came on a curveball just 0.74 feet off the ground, the lowest pitch hit for a home run in the postseason since pitch tracking began in 2008. That homer was the sixth of his postseason career, tying Albert Belle for third in franchise history.
Kwan played his part, too. His leadoff single in the fourth inning of Game 5 set the stage for Ramírez’s homer, and he reached base twice in the clincher. It was a fitting contribution from a player who has been one of the most consistent bats in baseball since the All Star break.
Now the celebration turns into preparation. The Guardians open the best of seven American League Championship Series against the Rays on Monday at 8 p.m. at Tropicana Field. If Kwan’s three ingredients carry over into the next round, Cleveland might be four wins away from its first World Series trip since 2016.
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