Cleveland has a new name this year: AL Central Champion. Four of rookie Steven Kwan’s career-best five RBIs came on his first grand slam in the eighth inning and Aaron Civale He allowed two runs on three hits in five innings in the Guardians’ 10-4 victory over the Texas Rangers on Sunday.
They clinched the division title about 15 minutes before the game ended, when the second-place Chicago White Sox lost to Detroit.
The Guardians made it look easy recently, opening up a 10-game lead with 10 days left in the regular season. Tied for first place on Labor Day, Cleveland has won 18 of 21 games, including the last seven.
Cleveland scored four runs in the third inning on four singles, plus an error, and added two in the sixth on a triple by Gabriel Arias, followed by fielding errors by Corey Seager and Marcus Semien.
In the eighth, Kwan’s fly ball bounced off the fence just behind the outfield fence and bounced back out into the field. Kwan also singled in the third and seventh.
For the Guardians, Venezuelan Gabriel Arias 4-1 with a run scored and two RBI. The Dominicans Óscar González 5-1 with a run scored and an RBI, Amed Rosario 5-0 with a run scored and José Ramírez 5-0.
For the Rangers, Dominican Leody Taveras 3-1 with a run scored. Cuban Adolis Garcia 3-0.
