Guardians clinch playoff spot with walk-off win
CLEVELAND — Andres Gimenez singled home Jose Ramirez from second base in the 10th inning as the Cleveland Guardians clinched a playoff berth in dramatic, fitting fashion, beating the Minnesota Twins 3-2 on Thursday.
With Ramirez on second as the automatic runner, Minnesota reliever Caleb Thielbar (2-4) struck out Josh Naylor and the Twins walked Lane Thomas intentionally to face Gimenez.
Cleveland’s second baseman then hit a 3-2 pitch into right to easily score Ramirez.
As the All-Star third baseman rounded third, Cleveland’s dugout emptied onto the field in celebration as the Guardians posted their MLB-leading 42nd comeback win and second straight in extra innings.
The Guardians are the second AL team to qualify for the postseason, following the New York Yankees, who locked up a spot Wednesday night.
Cleveland now has a chance to possibly end baseball’s longest active World Series drought, dating to 1948 when the team was known as the Indians.
The Twins threatened in the 10th, loading the bases with one out against Eli Morgan (3-0). But the right-hander got out of the jam by retiring Carlos Correa on a foul pop and Byron Buxton on a liner to right.
Cleveland’s bullpen, which has carried the team all season, combined for 5⅔ hitless innings.
Rookie Kyle Manzardo homered for the Guardians, who lowered the magic number to clinch the AL Central title to three.
The Twins, who are trying to hold on to a wild card, fell into a tie with Detroit for the final spot. The Twins own the tiebreaker.
It’s been an unexpected season for the Guardians, who went 76-86 last season while saying goodbye to beloved manager Terry Francona after 11 years. They figured to be competitive, not one of baseball’s best teams.
But it’s all come together under first-year manager Stephen Vogt, who before spring training had never even filled out a lineup card.
Cleveland took control of the division in mid-April, and the Guardians have had sole possession of first place for all but one day the past five months.
And while All-Stars Ramirez, Josh Naylor, Steven Kwan and Emmanuel Clase led the way, it’s been contributions from youngsters up and down the roster that has kept Cleveland consistently among the league’s best teams.
The Guardians overcame losing ace Shane Bieber in the first weeks of the season, and Vogt spent most of the season plugging holes in his rotation due to injuries and ineffectiveness.
Blanked over the first four innings by Cleveland rookie Joey Cantillo, who allowed just one run over 12 innings in his previous two starts, the Twins scored twice in the fifth off the left-hander to go up 2-1 on Manuel Margot‘s double.
The Guardians tied it in the sixth on Brayan Rocchio’s sacrifice fly.
Manzardo put the Guardians up 1-0 in the first with his fourth homer and second in three days. Manzardo finished with three hits, and since being recalled from Triple-A Columbus on Sept. 1, he’s batting .357 (15 of 42) with four home runs and seven RBIs in 16 games.
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