CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – On top of punching their ticket to the postseason and winning the AL Central, the Guardians have now locked down a top-two seed in the American League.
With a 6-1 win over the Reds, Cleveland has clinched a bye in the Wild Card round and home-field advantage in the ALDS.
“It’s incredible,” manager Stephen Vogt said. “Obviously, we’ve worked really hard to get here. It’s just so great for these guys. They’ve earned every bit of this. For them to be able to get the five days next week leading up to it, for us to get really good work in, for them to get their rest, heal up, refresh. We couldn’t be more thankful for this opportunity.”
If they finish in second place in the American League, then the Guardians will host the winner of the Wild Card series between the third and sixth-ranked teams in the ALDS.
Just like he did in the win that secured the Guardians a postseason berth, Kyle Manzardo started the night with a solo home run in the first inning.
It was a skyscraper to right field with a launch angle of 47-degrees, tied for the second-highest launch angle on a homer in baseball this year and the highest by a Cleveland hitter in the Statcast Era (2015).
“I was kind of upset,” Manzardo said. “I thought I hit it a little bit too high at first, but that wind blows out that way. Usually, you’re pushing it anything over 40-degrees.”
The ball traveled 366 feet off Manzardo’s bat for his fifth career major league homer. He’s hitting .314 with five homers and eight RBI in 20 games since being called up from Triple-A Columbus on September 1st.
Three batters after Manzardo, Lane Thomas smoked a 2-0 pitch 370 feet to left field. The two-run homer was his 15th of the season.
“Those stretches come and go,” Thomas said. “It’s been nice to get a few hits lately and kind of contribute. It’s nice to have settled in a little bit.”
It was Thomas’ seventh homer of the month, the most by a Cleveland hitter since Jose Ramirez hit 10 home runs in September 2020. It’s the second time this season that the Guardians have homered twice in the first inning.
The Guardians offense generated another run in the fifth inning thanks to first baseman Josh Naylor. Jose Ramirez raced around the bases scoring from first on a two-out, RBI double down the right-field line.
Naylor recorded another RBI with a sac fly in the seventh inning which scored Kyle Manzardo from third base. Ramirez crossed home plate on the next play after Lane Thomas recorded his third RBI of the game with a groundout to shortstop.
In his 31st start of the season, Tanner Bibee was excellent. He pitched seven innings, giving up one run on four hits, while striking out seven batters. Bibee threw 88 pitches, 57 of which were strikes.
“I think before the playoffs, it was a nice little tune-up,” Bibee said. “Just kind of simplifying it. We’re just keeping it simple. Kind of executing one pitch at a time, I feel like kind of just got me there.”
It was Bibee’s second career start against the Reds. He extended his single-season career-best in wins to 12, innings pitched to 173.2, and strikeouts to 187. Bibee also leads Cleveland with 12 quality starts in 2024.
“Pretty special,” Vogt said. “Wiggled his way out of trouble a couple times and really outside of those few innings, they couldn’t really get anything going. Tanner just seems to keep getting better and better each time out and just been a lot of fun.”
The win not only secured a top-two seed in the American League for Cleveland, but it also secured at least a tie in the 2024 Ohio Cup. The Guardians will retain the trophy for the 10th consecutive season dating back to 2015.
“I’ve never been in the World Series, so it’s gotta be number one,” Bibee joked when asked where retaining the Ohio Cup ranks in his career accomplishments.
“I didn’t even know what it was until about 20 minutes before the game started, so you know, it looks great,” Thomas said.
Cleveland’s 30-15 against Cincinnati since 2015. Cleveland has won the Ohio Cup outright 11 times and now retained the trophy 11 times.
The Guardians and Reds will meet for the final time in 2024 on Wednesday. Joey Cantillo (2-3, 4.63 ERA) will make his ninth career major league start. He’s posted a 1.00 ERA with 23 strikeouts in his last four games. Jakob Junis (4-0, 2.61 ERA) will make his fifth start with the Reds.
