Chappie's Grave

The Guardians are going to the playoffs. Cade Smith struck out the side in the ninth inning to rack up his 41st save, and Cleveland held on for a 1-0 win over Boston at Fenway Park on Sept. 24th. Angel Martinez hit a home run around Pesky Pole in right field for the only run of the night. Cleveland leads the American League Central by a game over Chicago. The winner of the Division will get a bye to the Division Series. Cleveland has played three 1-0 games since Sunday as it clinched its third straight playoff spot. With the win, Cleveland improved to 83-76. The Guardians have gone on a tear since dropping to 60-65 after losing a Sunday game at home to San Diego on Aug. 16. Since then, they’ve gone 23-11 and have won seven of their past eight. Smith struck out the side to record the save and clinch the playoff spot for Cleveland. The White Sox beat Kansas City earlier in the day to lock up a  playoff spot. Cleveland got great pitching from Opener Daniel Espino and bulk reliever Joe...

Angel Martinez hit a pair of home runs, one from each side of the plate, and the Guardians won their fourth in a row as they beat up on the hapless Sacramento A’s 12-6 on Sept. 19. Cleveland improved to 80-75 and maintained its one-game lead over Chicago in the race for the AL Central title. Cleveland trailed 2-0 after just one-half inning of play but bounced back to score five times in the bottom of the first to take a 5-2 lead. Chase DeLauter hit a 3-run shot to give Cleveland a 3-2 lead, and following a Jo Adel single, Martinez hit his first homer of the day to increase the lead to 5-2. Tanner Bibee started, and even though he was staked a 10-3 lead by the third inning, could not make it through the five innings needed to rack up the win. Bibee, who is 6-15, lasted 4 2/3 innings and gave up six runs on a career-high 12 hits. Cade Cecconi, who pitched the final two innings and didn't allow a hit while striking out one, earned the win to improve to 5-7. Martinez, who finished the ...

 Jose Ramirez finally gave the Guardians what they were seeking from their perennial All-Star and MVP. A jolt of power. Ramirez hit a home run deep into the Cleveland night with two outs in the sixth inning and Cleveland clutching a one-run lead over the pesky Sacramento A’s. It upped the lead to 5-3 and set off a raucous celebration at sold-out Progressive Field as the Guardians went on to beat the Sacramento A’s by that 5-3 score and later on take over complete control of first place in the American League Central with just eight games left on the schedule. It was part of a big night for Ramirez, who went 2-for-5 and drove in a pair of runs and scored a run to key a Cleveland offense that trailed 3-0 before it even batted. Cleveland improved to 79-75 with the win, while Chicago dropped to 78-76 after blowing an 8-2 lead at home in what turned out to be an 11-8 loss. Rookie Travis Bazzana continued his monster September with a solo home run, his fifth in September, whi...

 And just like that, the Guardians are just 1/2 game out of first place in the American League Central. Brayan Rocchio’s two-run single in the ninth inning gave the Guardians a three-run lead in what became a 5-2 win over the Minnesota Twins on Sept. 11. Cleveland improved to 75-73 with the win, while Chicago dropped to 75-72 after getting walloped by the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-3. Angel Martinez hit a two-run homer to give the Guardians a brief 2-1 lead in the seventh inning. Travis Bazzana scored the go-ahead run in the ninth. The rookie Aussie has been on a tear in September and has gotten stronger as the season has worn on. He walked to lead off the ninth inning and advanced to third base before scoring the go-ahead run on a wild pitch. Bazzana went 2-for-2, walked twice, and scored a pair of runs on the night. In September, he’s hitting .391 with two home runs, 8 RBI, and five walks. Cade Smith worked a scoreless ninth inning to record his 36th save. Martinez’s home...

The series in Baltimore was one the Guardians would like to flush. They lost two-of-three to the Orioles but actually gained ground in the race for the AL Central title as the White Sox (75-71) were swept by Pittsburgh in their own three-game series. As it stood before play began on Sept. 11, the Guardians (74-73) were just 1 1/2 games behind the White Sox for the AL Central lead. Cleveland also held the third and final Wild Card spot, a game in front of Toronto, two games in front of Texas, and three ahead of the Twins. As the Guardians begin a three-game series in Minneapolis, let's recap the Baltimore set. Cleveland lost the opener of the three-game series on Memorial Day, 6-4, came back to win the middle game 9-5, and lost the finale, 9-5. The starting pitching was bad in all three games, and Cleveland was lucky not to be swept. They led 6-0 in the middle game before Tanner Bibee was lit up for five runs and the Orioles made things interesting. A big two-run single ...

The Guardians walked off Detroit for the third time in four games this Labor Day Weekend on Sept.6 as Daniel Schneemann’s tenth-inning single drove in the winning run in Cleveland’s 3-2 win. Cleveland won a day-night doubleheader over Detroit (65-78) on Sept. 4 with a pair of walk-off wins. Brayan Rocchio homered to win the first game, 7-6. Travis Bazzana drove in the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning in a 4-3 Cleveland win in the second game. In all three wins, Cleveland never led until they recorded the winning run on the walk-of hit. “What a great weekend,” Vogt said. “Obviously we wish we could win games differently and be a little more relexed. But that’s not who we are. We love these games, and it happens every time with (the Tigers).” After the weekend series with Detroit, the Guardians are 73-71 and are  2 1/2 games behind the White Sox for the AL Central lead. They are the third and final Wild Card team, one game ahead of Toronto (72-72) Schneemann’s...

 The Guardians kicked off the 2026 Labor Day weekend with a sweep of a day-night doubleheader of the Detroit Tigers on Sept. 4. The Guardians won the first game 7-6 on Brayan Rocchio’s walk-off homer to lead off the bottom of the ninth inning. Cleveland rallied from a 6-1 deficit to win. In the nightcap, Travis Bazzana hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning to tie the game at 3, then won it with a walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th inning. Cleveland improved 72-70 with the two wins, but remains 2 1/2 games behind Chicago for AL Central lead. Rocchio had quite the day. In the first game, he hit a grand slam home run in the bottom of the fourth inning to tie the game at 6-6 before he walked it off in the ninth inning. In the second game, he scored the winning run after stealing second and third base. Rocchio led off the tenth inning. He attempted to bunt over Patrick Bailey, who started the frame on second, to third, but the bunt was too hard, and Detroit was abl...

The Toronto Blue Jays came into Cleveland and put a dent in the Guardians' postseason hopes. Toronto won the final two games of the three-game midweek series, including the Sept. 3 matinee. Cleveland (70-70) won the opener 6-1 as Gavin Williams struck out a career-high 13 and the Guardians got a trio of 2-run homers. But Toronto bounced back to win the Sept. 2 game, 11-0, and the Sept. 3 game, 6-3. The 11-0 loss was Cleveland’s 14th shutout loss of the year. Cleveland also fell to 33-38 at home after losing 2-out-of-3 to the Blue Jays. Toronto won the season series between the two clubs, 4-2, giving the Blue Jays the tiebreaker over Cleveland for the wild card. Cleveland holds the third and final wild card spot by 1/2 game over Toronto (70-71).  Cleveland trails Chicago by 3 games for first in the American League Central. Both teams have lost two games in a row. Cleveland actually led the Sept. 3 game early 1-0, on Angel Genoa’s third-inning single that scored Jo Adell....