CLEVELAND, Ohio — Despite dropping the finale of a three-game series against the Tigers on Thursday, the Guardians are still in good position to reach the Major League Baseball postseason for the 15th time in the last 30 years. Cleveland is tied with Detroit atop the American League Central Division and controls its own destiny with three games remaining in the regular season.
The Guardians’ magic number to clinch at least a wild card spot is 2. They have a magic number of 3 to clinch the AL Central.
Any combination of Guardians wins and Houston losses that adds up to 2 will punch Cleveland’s ticket to the playoffs. Any combination of Guardians wins and Detroit losses that adds up to 3 means the Guards are division champions for the third time in four years.
Cleveland holds head-to-head tiebreakers with both the Tigers and Astros and has an 88.6% chance to make the playoffs according to Fangraphs.com.
After trailing the Tigers in the AL Central by as many as 15 1/2 games in July and 11 1/2 games on Aug. 26, the Guardians are in position to pull off the biggest comeback to win a division title in baseball history.
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