Guardians rout Royals 11-1, cling to wild-card spot
Cleveland closed out Kansas City 11-1 to salvage the series, and at 69-68 the Guardians still hold the AL's third wild-card spot, half a game up on Baltimore.
DeLauter and Ramírez power the finale
Cleveland dropped the first two of this set to Kansas City — 0-3 on August 28, then 3-8 on August 29 — before closing it out with an 11-1 win on August 30, leaving the Guardians 3-2 over their last 5 games.
Royals0-3Royals3-8Royals11-1Chase DeLauter went 4-for-4 with 2 doubles and an RBI in the finale, and CleGuardians' own account summed it up simply: "All Chase DeLauter does is hit." José Ramírez went 2-for-3 with a home run and 4 RBI, Nathaniel Lowe added a home run and 3 RBI, and Jo Adell was 3-for-4 with a double and 3 RBI. Parker Messick got the win, allowing 1 earned run on 5 hits over 6 innings with 5 strikeouts and 2 walks.
A half-game hold on the final wild-card spot
At 69-68, Cleveland sits third in the AL wild card, half a game ahead of Baltimore (69-69) and 1.5 up on both Texas and Toronto, who are tied at 68-70. New York (78-60) and Boston (75-63) hold the top 2 spots comfortably, 8.5 and 5.5 games clear. The Guardians' elimination number is 23.
ESPN's Buster Olney framed the bracket above them this week, writing that Tampa Bay would draw the winner of a Red Sox-Yankees wild-card series — his pick for the AL's 3 best teams. That top tier is settled; the scrap for the spot Cleveland currently holds is not.
Upcoming
The Guardians host the Blue Jays tonight, with Gavin Williams (12-7, 3.98 ERA) on the mound against Toronto's Spencer Miles (5-2, 2.92 ERA). Miles was sharp in his last outing, working 2 scoreless innings against the Royals on August 26, while Williams was rocked for 5 earned runs in just 1.1 innings against the Angels on August 25 and will be looking to put that start behind him.
Cleveland is favored at home tonight, and the total points to a low-scoring game — a number that lines up with a matchup built around a pitcher trying to erase his last start and one who has barely allowed a run in his own. If Williams can find the form that got him to 12 wins, the price makes sense; if he gets knocked around again, Toronto's line becomes a lot more interesting.