Cleveland Guardians center fielder Myles Straw (7) slides home and scores as Texas Rangers catcher Jonah Heim, left, attempts to block during the third inning of a baseball game in Arlington, Texas on Sunday.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Cleveland has another new name this year: AL Central champions.
Five of rookie Steven Kwan’s career-high five RBIs came on his first career grand slam in the eighth inning and Aaron Civale allowed two runs on three hits in five innings as the Guardians beat the Texas Rangers 10-4 on Sunday.
They clinched the division title about 15 minutes before their game ended, when the second-place Chicago White Sox lost to Detroit.
The Guardians have made it look easy recently, opening a 10-game lead with 10 days left. Tied for first going into 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 a throwing error and added two in the sixth on Gabriel Arias’ triple following fielding errors by middle infielders Corey Seager and Marcus Semien.
In the eighth, Kwan’s fly to deep right bounced off the back wall just behind the outfield fence and back onto the field. Kwan also singled in the third and seventh.
Civale (3-6) is 21-0 when provided at least three runs’ support. He struck out seven and walked none throwing 75 pitches in his second start since returning from the injured list following forearm inflammation.
This is Cleveland’s 11th Central title since the division’s inception in 1994 and its fourth in 10 years under manager Terry Francona, who battled health problems the past two seasons but has enjoyed this ride with a team that may have surprised early on but is now being viewed as a legitimate World Series threat.
This season wasn’t supposed to happen.
After dropping Indians as their nickname following the 2021 season, a move that rankled a sizable portion of Cleveland’s fan base, the Guardians did little to upgrade their roster in free agency as the front office decided 2022 would be devoted to seeing what it had.
As it turned out, Cleveland’s kids were more than all right. Maybe no one more so than Kwan, a fifth-round draft choice in 2018 who made the roster in spring training and has become the club’s leadoff hitter.
Baseball’s youngest team has defied the odds from the start. The Guardians won despite having 16 rookies make their major league debuts, and they’ve overcame a brutal schedule — an MLB-high 11 doubleheaders — due to Cleveland’s sometimes nasty weather.
Texas’ first run scored on a sacrifice fly by Adolis Garcia for his team-high 96th RBI. He sat out Saturday night’s game after being hit in the left wrist by a pitch during the ninth inning of Friday night’s game.
Rangers starter Cole Ragans (0-3), a rookie was called up in early August, allowed all four runs, three earned, on six hits in five innings. He struck out three and walked one.
REDS 2, BREWERS 1
CINCINNATI (AP) — Spencer Steer hit a go-ahead home run in the eighth and Nick Lodolo pitched six strong innings as the Cincinnati Reds defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 2-1 on Sunday.
It was the final road game for the Brewers, who dropped two games behind Philadelphia for the final NL wild card playoff spot, pending the Phillies rain-delayed game against Atlanta.
Milwaukee finishes with nine games at home against St. Louis, Miami and Arizona. The Brewers would lose any tiebreakers with the Phillies or San Diego because they lost the season series against both of them.
“We have given ourselves a chance on this homestand,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “We have to win a lot of games, but we’re capable of it. The fact that we’re home is a good thing.”
Hunter Renfroe homered for the Brewers, who were unable to complete their first four-game sweep of the Reds since 2003. Renfroe who tied a career high with four hits including two homers and a season-high five RBIs on Saturday, homered on the first pitch leading off the second for a 1-0 lead.
Freddy Peralta, who hadn’t pitched since Sept. 8 due to right shoulder inflammation, threw two innings before giving way to Aaron Ashby.
“One-time through the lineup is what we were thinking there (with Peralta),” said Brewers manager Craig Counsell. “The bullpen pitched well. The home run bit us.”
Cincinnati tied the score 1-1 in the fourth when Ashby hit Austin Romine with the bases loaded — one of two hit batters for Ashby.
Milwaukee’s lone run and all of its hits against Lodolo came in the second inning.
