Guardians clinch a playoff spot again, edging the Red Sox 1-0 on Martínez homer

BOSTON (AP) — Angel Martínez homered and Joey Cantillo threw five one-hit innings in a bulk relief role as the Cleveland Guardians clinched a playoff spot for the third straight year with a 1-0 win over the Boston Red Sox on Thursday night.

Cleveland is guaranteed at least an American League wild card and retains a one-game lead over the Chicago White Sox in the AL Central. The division winner is likely to earn the No. 2 seed and a bye into the Division Series.

Chicago has the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Cleveland starter Daniel Espino threw one inning before giving way to Cantillo (11-9), who allowed one hit with four strikeouts. He’s now thrown 15 straight scoreless innings since being removed from the rotation.

Martínez hit his 18th homer of the season in the second inning. All-Star closer Cade Smith struck out the side in the ninth for his major league-leading 41st save.

While the Red Sox clinched a playoff spot for the second consecutive season earlier this week, they are still looking to firm up their seed. Boston leads Chicago by three games for the AL's second wild card, which would be the No. 5 seed and travel to face No. 4 New York in the best-of-three series.

Red Sox starter Ranger Suarez (8-5) gave up one run over five innings with five strikeouts. Boston had two hits and was shut out for the eighth time this season.

Red Sox center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela returned to the lineup one night after leaving Wednesday’s game with right hamstring tightness.

Guardians: RHP Gavin Williams (14-8, 3.63 ERA) is listed as the probable starter as Cleveland opens a three-game series in Kansas City on Friday.

Red Sox: Host the Chicago Cubs for a doubleheader on Friday. The Red Sox will go with LHP Alec Gamboa (1-0, 1.16) in the first game. RHP Brayan Bello (6-7, 4.49) is the tentative starter for Game 2.

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Cleveland Guardians' José Ramírez, left, dashes down the first base line as Boston Red Sox's Nick Sogard (20) steps away from the base on a single during the third inning of a baseball game, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Cleveland Guardians' Chase DeLauter, left, reaches first base on a fielding error by pitcher Raymond Burgos, right, during the ninth inning of a baseball game, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Boston Red Sox's Caleb Durbin dives back safely to first on a pick off attempt, beating a tag by Cleveland Guardians' David Fry, during the seventh inning of a baseball game, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Cleveland Guardians' Joey Cantillo delivers during the second inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Nolo became a hurricane in the Pacific Ocean on Thursday and was expected to strengthen while turning toward Hawaii’s Big Island, the National Hurricane Center said, as residents braced for potentially catastrophic flooding.

Forecasters warned that the Big Island could see rainfall totals of 15 to 20 inches (38-50 centimeters), with higher amounts possible through Saturday. The island of Maui also could be hit with life-threatening floods, the hurricane center said.

Some areas of Hawaii will likely start experiencing hurricane conditions by Friday night, the center said.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Residents along Mexico’s west coast stacked sandbags to fortify beachfront shops and evacuated their homes, while Hawaii’s Big Island and Maui braced for potentially catastrophic flooding, as two separate storms swirled in the Pacific on Thursday.

Heavy rains from powerful Hurricane Polo could cause life-threatening flooding and landslides in Mexico, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. In places like the port city of Lazaro Cardenas, seawater swept through homes Thursday and left wooden planks and furniture strewn on the streets.

Polo has gone back and forth between Category 4 and 5, both major-hurricane strength. The strongest winds were expected to remain offshore as the storm’s center skirts the coast before moving out to sea. But Polo was forecast to hook back toward Mexico’s coast farther north on Saturday.

Far off the southern tip of Hawaii’s Big Island, Tropical Storm Nolo was gathering strength, and forecasters expect it to become a hurricane soon. Hawaii is likely to see heavy rains starting late Thursday and winds reaching hurricane levels by early Saturday. Nolo could dump more than 2 feet (60 centimeters) of rain across islands still recovering from a string of storms.

The series of powerful storms comes as the weather phenomenon El Niño prompts major environmental shifts across the world, fueling drought in some areas and flooding in others. El Niño traditionally dampens the Atlantic hurricane season, while it tends to rev up tropical cyclone activity in the Pacific with moist air and little wind shear.

Hawaii has been battered this year by major flooding in the spring, an earthquake and two other hurricanes since mid-August.

“In my 20 years of experience here, I’ve never seen three hurricane watches for the islands in the same year,” said John Bravender of the National Weather Service in Honolulu.

Mexican authorities were opening shelters and clearing people from beaches, while coastal residents tried to protect businesses from getting swept away. People in high-risk areas were being evacuated, though authorities didn’t immediately say how many.

Much of the worry from locals comes from hurricanes in past years that devastated cities along the Pacific coast. Hurricane Otis in 2023 unexpectedly plunged Acapulco into turmoil for weeks.

“So many people said it wouldn’t happen and then it did. After that, you’re left on edge,” said Gonzalo Ramírez, a bartender in the city.

Polo posed the biggest threat to Guerrero and Michoacán, neighboring states in southwest Mexico that share a long coastline scattered with small ports, tourist towns and fishing villages. Much of the area is marked by poverty, and residents routinely complain they are left to fend for themselves during natural disasters.

Mexican authorities have deployed 15,000 security personnel across the coast and suspended schools.

In Lázaro Cárdenas, a port city in Michoacán that was hit with high surf, locals and government officials were clearing out piles of wooden planks from a number of destroyed ramadas and shoveling thick mud coating much of the town.

Alicia Contreras said the walls and roof of her restaurant had been severely damaged by 15-foot (4.5-meter) waves. As officers and family helped pick through the damaged house, Contreras worried how she would economically recover.

“This is huge because we have no other source of income. Now we’re just surviving,” Contreras said.

Forecasters said Tropical Storm Nolo might grow into a major hurricane and could drop 20 inches (50 centimeters) of rain on the Big Island, with even higher amounts possible through Saturday.

The island of Maui could also be hit with life-threatening floods and mudslides, the hurricane center said.

While the Big Island is expected to bear the brunt of the storm, its full path remains uncertain, according to Bravender, the weather service's warning coordination meteorologist in Hawaii.

Most concerning, he said Thursday, is that the heaviest rain is likely to fall over the same southeastern region of the Big Island hit in August by Hurricane Lala and where grounds are still wet from additional precipitation.

“There are several communities that were isolated, flooded, roads that were washed out,” he said. “It’s that same area that is most under threat,” Bravender said.

Hawaii officials told residents to put together emergency kits and the governor issued an emergency proclamation, activating more than 230 Hawaii National Guard members. Schools were closed for the rest of the week.

Hawaiian Electric, the state’s primary utility, said crews that had been helping restore power in Kauai after this month’s Hurricane Lowell would return to Oahu, Maui and the Big Island in preparation for the coming storm.

A third storm in the Pacific, Hurricane Odalys, was centered far from land roughly 1,110 miles (1,785 kilometers) west-southwest of the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula.

In the northern Atlantic Ocean, Tropical Storm Fay re-formed early Thursday, the U.S. hurricane center said. It was nearly 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) west-southwest of the Azores.

Aoun Angueira reported from San Diego. Associated Press journalists John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City and Jeriel Vargas Ambriz in Lázaro Cárdena, Mexico, contributed.

This satellite image provided by NOAA shows Tropical Storm Nolo, left, south of Hawaii; Hurricane Odalys, middle, and Hurricane Polo, right, off the coast of Mexico, in the Pacific Ocean on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026. (NOAA via AP)

This photo provided by NOAA shows Hurricane Polo moving away from the southwestern coast of Mexico on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026. (NOAA via AP)

This satellite image from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Tropical Storm Nolo in the Pacific Ocean, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026. (NOAA via AP)

This satellite image from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Hurricane Odalys in the Pacific Ocean, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026. (NOAA via AP)

This photo provided by NOAA shows Hurricane Polo strengthening in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026. (NOAA via AP)