José Ramírez drove in two runs and recorded four hits. Aaron Civale pitched six strong innings as the Guardians blew out the Kansas City Royals 9-2 on Wednesday in Cleveland’s last test of the postseason.
Cleveland opens the wild card round against Tampa Bay on Friday at Progressive Field.
The AL Central champions are 24-6 since Sept. 5 and finished the season with a 92-70 record. The youngest team in baseball has 17 players who made their major league debuts this season.
Last season Cleveland went 80-82.
Ramírez produced singles in the second and sixth innings and finished the regular season with 126 RBIs. He doubled in the eighth and received a standing ovation from 12,983 fans when he came off for a pinch runner.
Civale (5-6) struck out nine and is 3-0 since returning from his third stint on the disabled list,
For the Royals, the Venezuelan Edward Olivares 4-1.
For the Guardians, the Dominicans José Ramírez 5-4 with a run scored and two RBIs, Óscar González 4-2 with two runs scored and Amed Rosario 5-1 with a run scored. Venezuelans Andrés Giménez 4-0 and Gabriel Arias a run scored.