The Cleveland Guardians defeated the Texas Rangers to extend their winning streak to seven and clinch the American League Central title on Sunday.
Rookie Steven Kwan hit a grand slam and drove in a season-high five runs as the Guardians clinched a division championship no one thought possible six months ago with a 10-4 win over the Texas Rangers.
When catcher Luke Maile squeezed Josh Smith’s foul pop for the final out, the Guardians began celebrating a title that actually became official 15 minutes earlier following second-place Chicago’s loss to the Detroit Tigers.
End to Concerns over young Cleveland Guardians squad
There’s been so much focus on how young the Guardians’ roster is this season. And yet, the team has come this far to become the youngest team in the majors when weighted by playing time, according to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs. They’re just the eighth club to make the playoffs while owning that distinction, and the first since the 1986 New York Mets.
“What’s wrong with being young?” starter Shane Bieber joked.
As it turned out, Cleveland’s kids were more than all right.
Maybe no one more so than Kwan, a 25-year-old with a game way beyond his years. He made the roster in spring training and has been the Guardians’ pesky leadoff hitter from opening day, working pitchers into deep counts before slapping hits and becoming an annoyance on the base paths.
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What’s next for the Guardians?
The Guardians are surely aware that they still have a long road to reach their ultimate goal. But now that they know they’ll be hosting the best-of-three AL Wild Card Series at Progressive Field, beginning Oct. 7, it’s hard for them not to envision how special of a season this could be.
“We don’t look at ourselves as underdogs, but I know everybody else thought we were,” backstop Austin Hedges said.
“And I don’t blame them. We’re young. Who would have thought? But we believed in ourselves and we’re going to continue to shock the world.”
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