CLEVELAND, Ohio — The aren’t just playing for a playoff spot anymore. They’re trying to do something that’s never been done before in baseball history.
“What they’re trying to do is historic. They’re trying to run down the Tigers after being as many as 15 1/2 games back in the division on July 9th,” cleveland.com Guardians beat reporter Joe Noga explained on the latest Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast.
To put that in perspective, the largest deficit ever overcome in Major League Baseball’s divisional era came from the 1978 Yankees, who famously chased down the Red Sox after being 14 games back. That legendary comeback culminated in the Bucky Dent game at Fenway Park.
But what makes Cleveland’s pursuit even more challenging is a rule change that removed the one-game playoff for division ties.
“The only thing that’s different here for the Guardians is there is no one-game playoff. They can’t end the season in a tie. They have to win because the Major League Baseball eliminated the one game playoff to determine a division winner when they went to the three wildcard format,” Noga pointed out.
That means the Guardians need to finish ahead of Detroit outright — no ties allowed.
More Guardians coverage
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The hidden value of a .151 hitter to what the Guardians are doing during their playoff push
The numbers behind Cleveland’s scorching comeback are mind-blowing. As cleveland.com Guardians beat reporter Paul Hoynes noted, “They are 13-4 in September. They’re 35-22 since the All-Star break. They have won seven straight, 13 of their last 15 games. And they are on fire. This is Team Streak at its best.”
What makes this run even more remarkable is how the Guardians are doing it. This isn’t a team stacked with superstars or a lineup that strikes fear in opponents.
“They’re doing it with an offense that doesn’t scare anybody. A bullpen that is without its All-Star closer and, and a six-man rotation,” Hoynes explained.
The situation leaves zero margin for error. With a magic number of 7 (any combination of Guardians losses and Tigers wins) that would eliminate Cleveland from division contention, every game has become must-win. The Guardians have to keep winning while hoping Detroit continues its September slump.
Cleveland’s recent three-game sweep in Detroit was exactly what the Guardians needed, bringing them within 3 1/2 games of the division lead. Now they face another crucial four-game series against Minnesota before another showdown with those same Tigers next week.
If they can pull this off, they’ll join the ranks of baseball’s greatest comebacks alongside the 1978 Yankees, 2012 Athletics (13 games back), and 1995 Mariners (13 games back). But they’d be in a class of their own, having overcome a deficit larger than any team in baseball history.
The road ahead is daunting, but there’s an undeniable confidence building in the Cleveland clubhouse. They’ve already defied the odds to get this far, and with each win, the impossible seems increasingly possible.
Want to hear more about the Guardians’ historic chase and their thrilling sweep of the Tigers? Listen to the full Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast episode where Joe Noga and Paul Hoynes break down all the action and what it means for Cleveland’s playoff hopes.
Podcast transcript
Joe Noga: Welcome back to the Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast. I’m Joe Noga, joined by Paul Hoynes. Hoynsie, if you hear the train coming down the tracks, that’s the Guardians chasing down the Tigers. They sweep Detroit. A three game series in Motown. Completely unexpected, I think for a number of reasons, but everybody in that clubhouse believes and they got the job done. A big win against Tarek Skubal in Thursday’s getaway game as they move on to Minnesota to open a weekend series beginning tonight. Just the thousand foot view, you know, from the, the press box of, of what they did in Detroit and how they went about doing it. What did you take away from this, this three game series that they, they swept against the Tigers?
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, Joe, just excellent starting pitching, excellent defense, timely hitting and some really gritty bullpen pitch. Bull, you know, work from the bullpen. Bull from a taxed bullpen.
Joe Noga: Yeah. And all that adds up to three and a half games back in the division with three games still in front of them against Detroit next week. But they’ve got to take care of business against the Twins in a four game series this weekend. You’re in Minnesota to, to take in all of that. But if this team gets to Tuesday in a position where they can overtake the Tigers for the division, is that right now the stronger of the two possibilities than, than the wild card race? Because they haven’t been able to make up any ground in the race for the third wild card spot. Houston, Seattle, Boston keep winning and the Guardians have only been able to make up one game. They’re now one and a half games back in the, in the wild card.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, it’s, you know, you know, it’s a toss up right now. Joe, I think the best route for him would be to win the division. You know, that would possibly, maybe they get a buy that way or they get the, the weakest of the, you know, the three wild card teams, record wise at least if they do make the postseason. But you know, you have to imagine that the Tigers are going to start playing better than they did then. They have all September when they’ve just been in a funk in September and really since the All Star break, they haven’t played well. So, you know, it is a tough, tough choice. I just think that if you ask the, the Guardians right now, they just want, they just want to get in.
Joe Noga: Any way they can and they’re going to keep winning or keep playing to win the game that’s in front of them that day. As we heard over and over again, the mantra coming out of the clubhouse after the game on Thursday. What they’re trying to do is historic. What they’re trying to do is run down the Tigers after being as many as 15 and a half games back in the division on July 9th. During that, that 10 game losing streak, the morning of what, August 26th, they were 12 and a half back. And really ever since then they’ve been sort of gaining ground and gaining momentum on the, on the Tigers. That, to make up that much ground in that amount of time, in a month’s time has, has really just been remarkable. Think about what they’re trying to do. The largest deficit overcome in major league history in a divisional race was the 1978 Yankees. And if you remember that was they were 14 games. They chased down Boston. They forced a one game playoff to determine the American League east division winner. That game was played at Fenway park. And if you’ll recall, it was Bucky Dent with the big home run to sort of win that game for the Yankees and put them in the playoffs that year. Just the chances that the Guardians could overtake that, it could match that or even better, that sort of comeback. You’re talking history there. Not 14 games back for the Yankees. You’re also looking at what, 13 games back for the 2012 A’s, I believe. And the. Yeah, the 2020, 2012 A’s were 13 games back in the AL West. They rallied to, to win the division that year. And the 95 Mariners were 13 games back in the AL West. They beat the Angels in a one game playoff. Very memorable when Randy Johnson had to go out and p and win that game. The only thing that stands in is sort of a difference here for the Guardians is there is no one game playoff. They can’t end the season in a tie. They have to win because the Major League Baseball eliminated the one game divisional, you know, one game playoff to determine a division winner when they went to the three wildcard format. Now it’s, it’s percentage points and that’s how the division winner will be determined. So what we’re asking or what, what I guess the, the Guardians are asking of themselves right now is, is historic. It’s, it’s never been tried before.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, they are 13 and 4 in September though. They’re 35 and 22 since the All Star break. They have won seven straight, 13 of their last 15 games. And they are on fire. Joe. This is team streak at its best. And Joe, they’re doing it with, with an offense that, you know, doesn’t scare anybody. You know, a bullpen that is without an all star closer and, and a six man rotation. With that, they kind of just pulled out of the air out of necessity when the rosters expanded to a September 28th on to 28 players on September 1st just because. To protect the bullpen. So it’s, it’s, it’s a, it’s a great story and it’s, and it’s a fun team to watch because they just.
Joe Noga: Keep doing the unexpected and the margin right now for error is, is zero. Any loss between now and the end of the regular season could potentially be devastating depending on what the Tigers or the Astros, Mariners and, and Red Sox all do on their side of things. The Mariners and the Astros are playing each other. So at the end of this weekend, at the end of this three game series between the, the Astros and the Mariners, we’re going to have a clearer picture as to who’s going to have the inside edge to win the, the AL West. But that’s, you know, there are still games to be played after that. Anything could happen. But you get the sense that, you know, any one loss, any, any, any situation where the Guardians lose and the Tigers win a game. I think their magic number to clinch the division is 7. So any combination that adds up to 7 of guardians losses or Tigers wins takes the, takes the division off the table. And you’ve got to focus on the, the wild card exclusively. But you kind of get this growing sense that there’s a little bit of underlying confidence in that, in that clubhouse that, that they can get this done and they’re going to try, try their hardest as they, they head into Minnesota. We’ll get to a preview of the Minnesota series here in a second, but I just want to go back and talk a little bit more about, you know, how they went about winning this series in Detroit. We’ve broken down the previous two games, but Thursday’ against the defending American League Cy Young winner in Tarek Skubal and this is a guy who they had not scored a run on all season long until John Kenzie Noel came up in the fourth inning down one nothing. And John Kenzie Noel kind of had a feeling that he was going to do something special when he came to the park that day.
Paul Hoynes: Joe. He, I think he was caught up in the emotion of the winning streak. The, the excitement of it. The, the excitement of being in a, in a, in a pennant race, you know, in, in, in late September, mid Sept. You know, and John Kenzie, I don’t think he’s, you Know, shy about, you know, his talent. And he told Angel Martinez that he was going to hit a home run. He was going to, this is what he was going to do in the game. And lo and behold, Joe, just what happened in the fourth inning.
Joe Noga: Yeah, and specifically he said I’m going to take him deep. Meaning Tarek Skubal, meaning he knew he was confident enough in himself when he got to the ballpark on Thursday morning that he thought he was going to take Tarik school deep and out of the ballpark. And he did just that. What his fourth or fifth home run of the season. You know, been an up and down year for Noel in terms of, you know, his third stint with the big league club. He comes back at September 1st at the call up deadline and they tell him you’re going to play against lefties, you might play some first base. You, you know, you’re not going to get the bulk of the, the at bats here. But he comes to the park ready every day to do just what he did. And I think it was, you know, the, the called shot. This, this guy has authored a couple of, of home runs now that are, they’re very memorable. You think back to the, the ALCS last year and his game tying home run off Luke Weaver against the Yankees. He has a sense for the moment and, and he hit one there. And, and I think the best part was the clips of the, the Tigers broadcasters who were pretty confident that their guy was going to win any sort of matchup against John Kenzie Noel, the Tigers broadcaster takes, takes a pause. He says, you know, if John Kenzie Noel is Big Christmas, does that make Tarek Scubal the Grinch? And then on the very next pitch, John Kenzie takes him out of the yard.
Paul Hoynes: That was the best Joe. You know, John Kenzie, big Christmas hits a 02 pitch over the left field wall and that’s his third home run since he got called up Joe in September 1st. So he’s on a little bit of a roll. He also had a single against Scubal in the, in the second inning to start the second inning. So you know, he was kind of dialed in against this guy. So you know, good, you know, that was, you know, the guardians need that they, they need a threat even if he’s coming off the bench or he’s playing first base. They need a power threat other than Jose Ramirez. And Big Christmas delivered on Thursday.
Joe Noga: Yeah, the dejection in the, the Tigers broadcaster’s voice. Oh my. And then he said, he said Christmas wins. And I guess, I guess we can all get on board with the idea of Christmas winning. So big moment there for John Kenzie. And then you’ve got Tanner Bybee coming into that game against Tarek. Scubal matched up against, you know, Ace versus Ace. The, the matchup that we, we all, pretty much wanted to see. Scuba wasn’t going to go very deep in the game, I don’t think, because of, you know, what had happened in his previous outing when he left with a sore, you know, rib cage. And Bybey’s coming off his, you know, probably his best start of the season, the complete game shutout against the White Sox. Bybey goes out there and struggles a little bit early. What did you see out of Bibby and what made the difference for him after the second inning?
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, after the, in the second inning, Joe, you’re wondering, you know, this could, this could be a long day. He gives the first three Tiger hitters reach base to give Detroit a one nothing lead. Two of the hits are doubles. And you know, Bybe looks like he’s struggling, like it might be an early exit. The bullpen’s gassed. You’re thinking, what, what is Stephen Vogt thinking right now? But then he gets out of that jam. Then he goes to Joey Cantillo and, and asks him, you know, he, he remembers that Cantillo has struggled early in games. But then he came back in his most recent, one of his recent starts, throws eight scoreless innings. He goes, what, what was the difference? And you know, Cantillo said, you know, kind of, he said, I just started throwing a certain kind of fastball, Joe.
Joe Noga: Well, yeah, it was for our sensitive viewers. We’re just going to use, we’re going to self edit here. They were FU fastballs was, was what Tanner Bybey said that he and Cantillo talked about and he was asked about what’s the difference between a regular four seam fastball and an FU fastball. And an FU fastball is, you know, I’m just going to throw, I’m going to throw my pitch. I’m going to, you know, put it where, where it needs to be. And here it is. Hit it. If you can hit it, great. If you can’t, you can’t. And for the most part the, the Tigers couldn’t hit it. Once he decided that was his mentality going into it, that more edgy sort of approach. And you know, it was, it was great to see that from, from Tanner Bybey, who sometimes when he gets to oh two he tends to nibble a little bit, tends to lose that aggressive edge from, you know, the third inning on yesterday, Tanner Bybey went out there with the FU fastball and said, here, I’m going to dominate you. And he did, for the most part, to the. The Tigers lineup. Twelve of the final 14 batters he faced, he retired, and six of those on strikes. It was a completely different Tanner Bybee from the first two innings of that game. And more along the lines of what we saw in, in his start against the White Sox. That’s the ace. That’s the guy that the Guardians have needed all season long. And Tanner Bybey seems to have figured things out now, and that’s a really good sign for these last 10 games.
Paul Hoynes: Definitely six innings, four hits, one run, two walks, eight strikeouts, 100 pitches, 63 strikes. He was after that second inning, Joe. He was in charge. And, you know, I love what he said, you know, explaining the difference between an ordinary fastball and an FU fastball. The FU fastball, he goes, you throw it and you dare the guy to hit it. So I. It worked. Whatever it is, it worked. So hopefully he keeps that in his repertoire.
Joe Noga: It’s conviction, it’s believing in what you got. It’s. It’s believing in your stuff that you can, you can beat that major league hitter at that moment. And he showed that. So, yeah, really, really great. You know, the FU fastball, that just sounds like an old school. That sounds like, you know, he’s pitching coach, you know, talking to a kid on the high school team and, and, and just saying, you know, here’s, here’s the difference. You’ve got a good arm, you’ve got really good. You’ve got talent now. You need to, you need to dominate hitters, and you need to go out there and throw an FU fastball. And that’s, that’s what Bibey did. So it was refreshing to hear him characterize it like that. A lot of fun. Got a couple of chuckles and laughs, but, you know, that was. That was Tanner Bybey’s day, and it was a big day. Was important not just to beat Tarek Scubal and the. And the. And the Tigers, but to prove to himself that he’s got what it takes to get through that lineup. Also proving that they have what it takes. The bullpen, Tim Heron, third game in a row, he comes out, puts up a scoreless inning and looks, you know, pretty sharp. Gets a, a double play on a broken bat, line drive back to the box after he had walked a batter. And, you know, he gets through three innings, third straight or three innings in the series, you know, third straight appearance, they needed that out of Tim Herron. This weekend or this week, you remember.
Paul Hoynes: You go back to 2024, Heron was a cornerstone to that bullpen. You know, it was classy, it was Heron, it was Gaddis, it was Cade Smith. This year, Herron has been missing, he’s been struggled with his control. He’s been up and down three times between Cleveland and Columbus. He hasn’t been the same guy and they’ve missed him. So this last time that he, they brought him up from, from Columbus, he looks more and more like the 2024 version of Heron. And they certainly need that show. They need a left handed, a left handed reliever who can come in, get a left handed hitter out, but also get right handers out. And he’s done that in these three appearances and probably the three big three of his big.
Joe Noga: Yeah, I would definitely say that. The other lefty that proved incredibly valuable, Colby Allard, comes in in a spot that he’s not accustomed to pitching in, at least this season. Leverage situation. In the eighth inning, he works a scoreless inning, strikes out Riley Green after an at bat where Green had fouled some pitches off. You know, that’s a big spot. And Allard, you know, wasn’t exactly a guy who had been used a lot lately. This is the first time in quite a while that we’d seen him on the mound.
Paul Hoynes: It was like they locked him in the bullpen, Joe, and wouldn’t let him out. He hadn’t pitched since September, like almost 14 days almost without pitching. It was like they forgot about him. They forgot he was on the. And you know, Stephen Vogt talked about it after the game, said every day he told Allard, hey, you’re going to get in there, just stay ready. We’re going to need you. We’re going to need you at a big moment. Allard was telling the bullpen coach, when I know I’m going to get in, when I get in there, finally get in there, it’s going to be at a huge moment when we’ve got to get a big out. And he said, I’m going to be ready. And he certainly was. I mean, you’re up three one, you’re trying to close out a series, the biggest series of the season, to draw within three and a half games of first place. You’re basically your long reliever is, is pit, is starting the eighth inning. A guy that, you know pitches in blowouts one way or the other, makes a spot start and all of a Sudden, you know, he’s. He’s carrying the load right there. What? He walks a guy, but he retired three. Three of the. Three of the. Three of the four batters he faced.
Joe Noga: Yeah, just an outstanding job by Colby Allard to. To be ready, to be prepared for that moment and to come through. Speaking of being prepared for that moment, Jose Ramirez, 29th home run of the season in the seventh inning. Votes said that, you know, the joke is when, when Jose comes up to the plate in a, In a big moment and big situation like that, he looks to, to Craig Alvarez, he looks to the, the coaches on the bench and he says, he says, come on, Josey, just once, will you come through for us? You know, being the joke being that, you know, he always comes through in those situations and, you know, you don’t have to ask him for it. He certainly did against Melton. Was it Trevor Melton, the reliever for the Tigers? He takes Melton deep on a, On a, you know, on the second pitch of the at bat. He had seen the curveball on the first pitch, saw what it looked like, got another one and didn’t miss it. Hosey did what he always does, and that’s beat the Tigers. He’s had so much success in his career against them. Does it ever get old, watching him hit home runs in Comerica Park?
Paul Hoynes: It never gets old, Joe, especially in games like that. What I like about Jose is he’s so, you know, you ask him, are you nervous? You know, any human being is going to be nervous in that situation. He goes, are you, Are you. Is your mind racing? He goes, no, I’ve been in that situation so many times. I’m calm. I’m just looking for a pitch to hit, you know, and I guess that’s what any hitter would say after he gets the result like that. But I really believe, I believe what Ramirez says in that situation, because, Joe, he’s been in that situation countless times. The nerves probably left five, six, seven years ago when he gets into those situations. He’s just thinking about producing now.
Joe Noga: Yeah, and it’s expected in that clubhouse. You know, Tanner Bybey was asked about Jose Ramirez. He said he’s one of one. He’s unlike anybody else when it comes time to basically pick that team up and, and carry them across the finish line there. And that’s exactly what he did on Thursday. Now they get ready to face the Twins series opener. Tonight, it’s Parker Messick and Pablo Lopez on the mound for the, The Twins, they’ve got all of their, their best starters lined up basically to face the Guardians in this four game series. Don’t forget it’s four games because there was a rain out earlier in the year and they had to move a game to this Saturday split double header on Saturday. What’s the weather like out there? Does it look like you’re going to get these games in?
Paul Hoynes: It’s cloudy. There’s a threat of rain today. It isn’t raining yet, but it looks like rain. When I got here, it looked it, it looked pretty good. But it’s starting to cloud up now so we’ll, we’ll see if they, if they do lose this game to a rain out, I’m talking about Friday night, they could possibly play on the off day Monday to complete this four game series.
Joe Noga: Yeah, it would be, it would be interesting to see what they decide to do if things go south this, this evening. So. All right, Hoinsey, that’s going to wrap up today’s edition of the Cleveland Baseball Talk podcast. We’ll check back within with you on, on Monday at some point, whether it’s from the ballpark or on the off day getting ready for another go round with the Tigers next week. We’ll talk to you then.
Paul Hoynes: Good deal.