The Guardians were 'on fumes' to close out the AL Central, and now they get a bye to recover

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Six games back of the AL Central-leading Chicago White Sox in mid-August, the Cleveland Guardians threw everything they had at chasing down their division foes.

Lucky them, the AL Central crown comes with a little break before their postseason begins.

“We’ll get some rest, this team was on fumes,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said after his club wrapped up its third straight division title by beating the Kansas City Royals 11-5 on Saturday night while Chicago lost 9-6 to the Colorado Rockies. Cleveland has won seven AL Central championships in the past 11 seasons.

So they know how to celebrate.

After nearly an hour of dousing each other with bubbly in the clubhouse, drenched Guardians players spilled out of their dugout to continue their celebration and slip-and-slide on the tarp-covered Kauffman Stadium field as the rain began to fall harder.

“What an incredible accomplishment,” said Guardians president Chris Antonetti, who lauded the players, coaching staff and his front office for their hard work.

“But this is why we do it,” he said, gesturing to the celebration in the locker room.

The Guardians clinched a postseason berth with Thursday’s 1-0 win over the Boston Red Sox. They’ve earned a playoff spot eight times since 2016.

“There’s so many people that have contributed to this win, this championship and I think that’s what makes this feel really good,” Vogt said. “I think that’s the story of this year, how deep the roster was.”

Vogt is the eighth manager to guide a team to the postseason in each of his first three seasons, and the 2026 championship required his most creative efforts. That included overcoming injuries to Jose Ramirez, Angel Martínez and rookie Chase DeLauter.

“We were without three of our best hitters for over a month and the boys held it together,” Vogt said. “They held the season together. Our season could have gone very differently.”

The Guardians tried to bolster the club with the trade-deadline acquisitions of outfielder Jo Adell, first baseman Nathaniel Lowe, left-hander Foster Griffin and right-hander Craig Yoho.

Yet the Guardians trailed Chicago by six games on Aug. 16. Then they won 25 of the next 36, including 15 of their final 21.

“What this team did over the last 21 games was really special,” Vogt said. “(The players) deserve all the credit.”

“I feel like the thing about us, the stretch we had after the All-Star break, the majority of teams could have folded,” Saturday’s winning pitcher, Tanner Bibee said.

“We could have went back in our shell, but we knew it was going to flip. If you show up every day on the field in the same way, usually the baseball gods reward you in a good way.”

Cleveland will wrap its season Sunday, then will be off until opening an AL Division Series at home next Saturday.

Bibee, whose 15 losses are tied for the major-league lead, sees the playoffs as a reset.

“At this point, it doesn’t matter,” he said. “Everyone’s at zero when it gets to October. The stats don’t matter. Only wins do now. That’s the beautiful thing about October.”

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Cleveland Guardians' Austin Hedges celebrates in the clubhouse after clinching the American League Central division title by defeating the Kansas City Royals in a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Cleveland Guardians team members celebrate after clinching the American League Central division title by defeating the Kansas City Royals in a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Cleveland Guardians' Angel Martinez celebrates in the clubhouse with teammates after clinching the American League Central division title by defeating the Kansas City Royals in a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Cleveland Guardians' Austin Hedges celebrates in the clubhouse after clinching the American League Central division title by defeating the Kansas City Royals in a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Cleveland Guardians players celebrate with manager Stephen Vogt, rigtht, after clinching the American League Central division title by defeating the Kansas City Royals in a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Manny Machado hit a three-run homer and the San Diego Padres beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 10-7 on Saturday to secure the No. 4 seed in the National League playoffs.

San Diego will host every game in a best-of-three Wild Card Series against the fifth-seeded Chicago Cubs beginning Tuesday. The winner will face the NL Central champion Milwaukee Brewers in a best-of-five Division Series.

The Cubs eliminated the Padres 2-1 in the wild-card round at Chicago last season.

Xander Bogaerts also went deep for the Padres (90-71), who clinched their club-record third straight 90-win season and seventh in team history. They earned their franchise-best third consecutive postseason berth with a 4-2 win Thursday night at the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Diamondbacks had their six-game winning streak snapped but remain alive for the NL's third wild-card spot. They are one game behind Philadelphia going into Sunday's season finales and hold the tiebreaker. The Phillies lost their fourth straight game, 12-1 to AL East champion Tampa Bay.

Arizona's Gabriel Moreno hit an RBI single and went 1 for 3 with a walk to keep his average at .311, just ahead of injured Phillies infielder Luis Arraez (.310) in the race for the NL batting title.

Moreno's spot in the order came up after Mason Miller loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth, but the Diamondbacks sent pinch-hitter Adrian Del Castillo to the plate and he struck out. Miller allowed three runs.

Machado hit a 1-1 pitch from Jose Cabrera (0-4) into the home run porch in the right-field corner for a 6-4 lead in the fourth. That gave Machado his eighth career 30-homer season, tying Arizona's Nolan Arenado and Philadelphia's Kyle Schwarber for the most among active players.

It was his fourth 30-homer season with San Diego, tying Adrian Gonzalez for the most in team history.

The Diamondbacks went ahead 4-3 in the top of the fourth on James McCann's two-run homer to straightaway center off Walker Buehler.

Arizona led 2-1 in the third before the Padres went in front on Ty France's RBI groundout and Gavin Sheets' RBI double that center fielder Tim Tawa lost in the lights and twilight sky.

Bogaerts hit a solo homer in the two-run fifth, and Jake Cronenworth added a two-run single in the sixth.

Yuki Matsui (5-1) got the win in relief.

Diamondbacks RHP Michael Soroka (9-5, 3.31 ERA) is scheduled to pitch the season finale Sunday. The Padres hadn't announced a starter.

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

San Diego Padres starting pitcher Walker Buehler, cengter, throws to Arizona Diamondbacks' Corbin Carroll, third from left, in the fourth inning of a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Karl Anderson)

San Diego Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr. celebrates after scoring off Manny Machado's two-run home run in the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Karl Anderson)

San Diego Padres' Manny Machado runs to third base off Jackson Merrill's single in the first inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Karl Anderson)

San Diego Padres' Manny Machado celebrates after his three-run home run in the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Karl Anderson)