The Cleveland Guardians are American League Central champions in Stephen Vogt's first year
The Guardians are again kings of the American League Central.
A few days after punching their ticket to the postseason and clinching a playoff berth with a walk-off win at Progressive Field Thursday, the Guardians have also now clinched the AL Central title, winning the division over the weekend while in St. Louis due to the Kansas City Royals losing to the San Francisco Giants.
It's the Guardians' first division title since 2022, another year when they surprised just about everyone in the baseball world and far exceeded expectations. This is the 12th time Cleveland has won the division.
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During their celebration at Progressive Field Thursday, after clinching a spot in the playoffs, Guardians players including Austin Hedges celebrated the job manager Stephen Vogt has done this season, guiding Cleveland past Shane Bieber's season-ending injury only a couple weeks after Opening Day, plenty of roster turnover and a starting rotation that struggled with inconsistency. Hedges presented Vogt with a fake pro-wrestling-style championship belt in the clubhouse after the game.
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All that is left for the Guardians to accomplish in the regular season is to secure one of the top two seeds in the American League, which would give them a bye after the three-game wild card round.
The top two of the three division winners will receive byes in the first round. The New York Yankees (90-64) and Guardians (90-65) entered Saturday's slate of games with a commanding lead for those two spots.
The Houston Astros, who would be the No. 3 seed out of the AL West if the season ended Saturday, entered the weekend 84-70. The Guardians lead the Astros by 5½ games but still have some work to do to clinch one of those top two spots, especially considering they end the regular season with a three-game weekend series against the Astros at Progressive Field.
If the Astros can remain within three games heading into that series, they'll still be alive, and winning that series would also give them the tiebreaker for the No. 2 spot.
Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis1@gannett.com. Read more about the Guardians at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/cleveland-guardians. Follow him on Threads at @ByRyanLewis.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cleveland Guardians standings; Guards win AL Central title in 2024
