C.J. Kayfus was hit by a pitch from Robert Garcia with the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth inning, scoring Petey Halpin to clinch a playoff berth for the Cleveland Guardians with a 3-2 win over the Texas Rangers on Saturday night.
Cleveland (87-74) is guaranteed at least an American League wild card and remains tied with Detroit atop the AL Central going into the final day of the regular season.
The Guardians own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Tigers. That means a victory Sunday over Texas or Tigers loss at Boston would give Cleveland its second consecutive division title following a stirring comeback this season.
Houston was eliminated from postseason contention with Cleveland’s victory. The Astros will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
The fourth-place Guardians were 40-48 through July 6 and still 15 1/2 games out of first two days later.
Garcia (4-8) intentionally walked Gabriel Arias to load the bases before hitting Kayfus on the right arm with his second pitch to the rookie. Halpin was on third as a pinch runner for Johnathan Rodriguez, whose two-out walk began the rally.
Cade Smith (8-5) retired five batters for the win as Guardians relievers combined for 3 1/3 scoreless innings.
Rodríguez hit a two-run homer in the first off Jacob Latz to put Cleveland ahead 2-1, scoring Jose Ramirez. Josh Jung’s RBI double plated Michael Helman in the top half.
Adolis Garcia launched a 433-foot home run in the fourth against Joey Cantillo to pull the Rangers even at 2-all. Cantillo struck out eight over 5 2/3 innings and Latz had six strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings.
Dylan Moore of the Rangers attempted to score on a delayed double steal in the eighth, but was thrown out by second baseman Brayan Rocchio to end the inning. Jung had taken off from first base, prompting catcher Austin Hedges to go there initially.
The Guardians are an AL-best 41-25 since the All-Star break. Cleveland is the fourth team in MLB history to make the playoffs in the same season it had a 10-game losing streak.
Guardians RHP Gavin Williams (12-5, 3.06 ERA) is slated to pitch the regular-season finale. The Rangers had not announced a scheduled starter.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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