Guardians' improbable September surge ends in walk-off fashion for AL Central title

Billy Heyen

Guardians' improbable September surge ends in walk-off fashion for AL Central title image

For a team that was eight games under .500 in the middle of July, the Cleveland Guardians sure figured out how to win.

And so on the final day of the regular season, with an AL Central Division title hanging in the balance, the Guardians were up for the occasion.

The Texas Rangers, with nothing to play for but pride, opened up a 5-3 lead in the sixth inning, but the Guardians had one more rally.

Jhonkensy Noel cut the deficit in half with a solo homer in the seventh.

Then in the eighth, Brayan Rocchio foreshadowed some later heroics with a game-tying sacrifice fly.

Extra innings looked like they wouldn't go Cleveland's way, though. The hefty slugger Rowdy Tellez launched a three-run homer in the top of the 10th to take all the air out of Progressive Field. 

But why not come from behind one more time?

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Bo Naylor led off bottom 10 with a double to plate the bonus runner, George Valera. Down 8-6.

Petey Halpin pushed it to the next guy by working a walk.

In stepped Brayan Rocchio, with four home runs all season, and he delivered the swing of his life. He crushed a center-cut offering deep to right, and it hung on just enough, hitting the foul pole for a three-run, walk-off home run.

Cue the party.

The Guardians had already celebrated plenty on Saturday night when they clinched a playoff berth.

But that's no reason not to party again.

This walk-off win meant a division title, and home-field advantage through the Wild Card Series. So some celebratory shorts, photograph and champagne were in order.

The Guardians had no business making the playoffs in any form.

But here they are, division champions, comeback kids, uncannily able to win any kind of ballgame.

So they've reached a new season, and now it's time to make some real noise. Who's betting against this team finding a way to win a few more times?

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Billy Heyen

Billy Heyen is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who has written about many sports and fantasy sports for The Sporting News. Sports reporting work has also appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Sandusky Register and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle