By Joey Mistretta
Copyright clutchpoints
The Cleveland Guardians endured a mediocre season for a significant portion of the 2025 campaign. In fact, the Guardians trailed the Detroit Tigers in the American League Central by 15.5 games at one point earlier in the season. However, although Cleveland has yet to clinch the AL Central title (they are currently tied with the Tigers heading into the regular season finale on Sunday), the Guardians were able to clinch a postseason spot on Saturday with a 3-2 win over the Texas Rangers.
“We never quit,” third baseman Jose Ramirez told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports after Saturday’s game. “That’s how we play.”
Ramirez, a superstar, led the Guardians throughout the season. He still somehow seems to be underrated, but Ramirez is consistently in the MVP conversation despite having yet to win the award. Ramirez is one of the best players in baseball.
All-Star outfielder Steven Kwan praised Ramirez while also echoing a similar sentiment to the superstar third baseman while speaking to Rosenthal.
“Just trusting each other,” Kwan said. “We got Jose Ramirez right there, he plays hard every single day. He runs hard 90’s. He does his defense, he does everything like you’re supposed to. When you got a guy like that at the top, we all have to follow suit.”
Cleveland still has work to do. The Guardians would love to enter the postseason as the AL Central division winner as opposed to just an AL Wild Card ball club. The fact that they are even in the postseason following their up and down start to the ’25 campaign is impressive, but the Guardians will do everything they can to take care of business on Sunday.
Cleveland can clinch a division title with a win against the Rangers. If the Guardians lose, they can still clinch the AL Central if the Tigers lose to the Boston Red Sox since Cleveland owns the tiebreaker with Detroit. The only way the Guardians can lose the division is if they drop their Sunday matchup against the Rangers and if the Tigers defeat the Red Sox.
In other words, Sunday’s contests will be must-watch baseball. First pitch for the Rangers-Guardians clash is scheduled for 3:10 PM EST at Progressive Field in Cleveland.
