The Cleveland Guardians are in the midst of a dominant stretch of baseball. They've won 12 of their last 15 games, with four of those wins coming against a divisional opponent in the Minnesota Twins. The Guardians are as confident as ever heading into the final stretch of the regular season.
“We played our best baseball so far this year, and we're doing it in all facets of the game,” Guardians starter Cal Quantrill said to MLB.com. “Head to Chicago here and have a good series there and close this thing out.”
The Guardians essentially eliminated the Twins from playoff contention with their weekend series. The Twins are now seven games back in the division with 15 games left on the docket. The Guardians earned the tiebreaker over the Twins and basically put the proverbial nails in the coffin.
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But, the Guardians have one more hurdle to jump. A three-game, weekday series against the White Sox.
The South Siders aren't out of this thing yet. The Guardians have a comfy four-game lead on the Sox, but every loss against them this week acts as a two-for-one deal. By week's end, the Sox could be within a game of the lead.
The Guardians are on an absolute tear in the month of September. They lead the league in hits and have the sixth-best ERA in baseball for the month (3.01).
However, the Sox are also on a similar tear this month.
They've reverted back to their traditional ways at the plate, knocking 26 balls out of the park to lead MLB this month. They also have the second-best team ERA in baseball for September with a 2.52 ERA.
Two teams on dominant streaks heading into the final stretch of a winner-takes-all playoff battle. What beats the intensity of that?
While the outcome could go either way, one thing's certain about the Guardians.
They're coming to play.
“It was important for us to show what we're capable of in a playoff atmosphere,” Quantrill said. “Every game matters, but unfortunately once you get to September, some games just matter more."