By: BHS Sports Staff
September 18, 2025
This season has been quite the roller coaster for the Cleveland Guardians, with many highs and numerous lows. Yet, the Guardians remain in the hunt for a playoff spot with 11 games to go, as they sit with a record of 80-71.
They currently trail the Detroit Tigers in the American League Central Division by 4.5 games and trail the final Wild Card spot by 2.5 games.
What went wrong? For starters, the Guardians have had some unfortunate luck, as they lost starting pitcher Luis Ortiz and star closer Emmanuel Clase for violating MLB’s sports betting policy. These two are still under investigation. Additionally, the Guardians experienced a 10-game losing streak from June 26-July 6, followed by another 1-9 skid in the middle of August.
What has gone well? Cleveland has been red hot recently, as they have won 11 of their last 12, including six in a row. They took three out of four against the Tampa Bay Rays and the Kansas City Royals. They followed up those series wins with a sweep of the pathetic Chicago White Sox. In this current series, they took the first two games in Detroit.
The starting pitching has been a huge factor for the last month as the Guardians have had two pitchers throw near no-hitters. On September 8, Slade Cecconi, who was acquired in the Josh Naylor trade last offseason, took a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the Royals. More notably, on August 6, Gavin Williams took a no-hitter into the ninth inning against the Mets at Citi Field but fell short on a one-out homer by, of course, Juan Soto, the guy who infamously ended the Guardians’ season last year in the ALCS.
The starting rotation of Williams, Cecconi, Tanner Bibee, Joey Cantillo, Logan Allen, and rookie Parker Messick, along with a resurgent bullpen, has sported a 2.47 ERA in September, the best in baseball.
The young hitting has also made a timely impact on a struggling lineup, as recent call-ups C.J. Kayfus and George Valera have come up clutch in their short time thus far. Jose Ramirez, Steven Kwan, and Kyle Manzardo have been producing strongly all season at the top of the order, keeping the Guardians in this fight.
If this team can remain consistent with pitching and clutch hitting, they will give themselves a great shot at another October to remember.
This afternoon, the Guards will face off against Cy Young contender Tarik Skubal and the Motor City Kitties. After Skubal, Cleveland will travel to Minnesota to face the Twins for a four-game weekend series before heading home to finish the regular season with three games against the Tigers and three games against the Texas Rangers.
You can keep up with the Guardians’ playoff push by visiting the Cleveland Guardians website.
Friends of the Feather, the Tribe is still in this. Believe and Go Guards!
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THE RETURN OF THE EYE 