Guardians Clinch AL Central

Guardians 10, Rangers 4

ARLINGTON, Texas, Sep 25 — The Cleveland Guardians dealt a three-game sweep to the Texas Rangers on Sunday afternoon, as they won the series finale by a final score of 10–4. With this win, they clinch the American League Central division. It is their first division title since the 2018 season. The Rangers really couldn’t get any offense going, as half of their runs came courtesy of the sacrifice fly. One of them was from Adolis Garcia, and the other was from Josh Smith. With this sweep, the Rangers’ record now sits at 65–87 on the year. They will be embarking on a six-game road trip. They’ll play three games against the Los Angeles Angels, and three games against the Seattle Mariners before returning to Globe Life Field to finish the season with four against the New York Yankees in the first week of October.

Guardians Offense

For the second day in a row, the game stayed scoreless until the third inning. In the top half of the frame, Guardians second baseman Tyler Freeman scored on a single by left-fielder Steven Kwan. The score would soon become 3–0 Guardians on a fielder’s choice, and a throwing error by Rangers third baseman Josh Jung. Both Kwan and Myles Straw were able to score on the play. Later in the inning, the Guardians extended their lead over the Rangers to 4–0. A single to right field by right-fielder Oscar Gonzalez drove in shortstop Amed Rosario.

The Guardians added two more runs in the top half of the sixth inning. A triple to centerfield drove in Gonzalez, and first baseman Owen Miller. They didn’t stop there, however. They added four more runs in the top of the eighth inning on a grand slam home run by Steven Kwan. The Rangers just couldn’t seem to stop them. They could only watch the Guardians clinch their division

Rangers Offense

The Rangers scored their first run in the bottom of the fourth inning. A sacrifice fly by outfielder Adolis Garcia allowed second baseman Marcus Semien to trot home from third base. The Rangers scored their second run on yet another sacrifice fly. This one came off the bat of left-fielder Josh Smith, and it drove in third baseman Josh Jung. They were able to score two more runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. First baseman Nathaniel Lowe grounded into a force out a second base, allowing centerfielder Leody Taveras, and Marcus Semien to score.

ALSO CHECK: The History of AL Central Team Names

Pitching Notes

The Rangers gave the starting nod to lefty Cole Ragans in the series finale on Sunday. Ragans fell to 0–3 through the first eight starts of his major league career after taking the loss on Sunday (5 IP, 6 H, 4 R-3 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO). He matched his career high of five innings pitched (3x, last 8/17 against the Oakland Athletics). This was undone by a four-run third inning in which he allowed four singles, with two of those runs scoring via fielder’s choice throwing error by third baseman Josh Jung. Ragans has permitted three-or-fewer earned runs in six of eight career starts.

Guardians starter Aaron Civale earned the win in his second start since returning from the Injured List. This marked his first win since June 20 against the Detroit Tigers. It is also his first road win since October 3, 2021 at TEX in last year’s season finale. Civale has posted a 3.00 ERA (13 ER/39 IP) and .203 opp. BA (29-for–143) with six walks and 39 strikeouts over last eight starts since July 8. He improves his career record to 21–0 when receiving 3+ runs of support.