CLEVELAND — CJ Kayfus was hit by a pitch from Robert Garcia with the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth inning, scoring Petey Halpin to clinch a playoff berth for the Cleveland Guardians with a 3-2 win over the Texas Rangers on Saturday night.
Cleveland (87-74) is guaranteed at least an American League wild card and remains tied with Detroit atop the AL Central going into the final day of the regular season. The Guardians are the first team in the past 100 seasons to clinch a playoff spot via a walk-off hit by pitch, according to ESPN Research.
The Guardians own the head-to-head tiebreaker, so a victory Sunday over Texas or a Tigers loss at Boston would give Cleveland its second consecutive division title after a stirring comeback this season.
The fourth-place Guardians were 40-48 through July 6 and still 15½ games out of first two days later.
Houston was eliminated from postseason contention with the Guardians’ victory. The Astros will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
Garcia (4-8) intentionally walked Gabriel Arias to load the bases before hitting Kayfus on the right arm with his second pitch to the rookie. Halpin was on third as a pinch runner for Johnathan Rodriguezwhose two-out walk began the rally.
Cade Smith (8-5) retired five batters for the win as Guardians relievers combined for 3⅓ scoreless innings.
Rodríguez hit a two-run homer in the first off Jacob Latz to put Cleveland ahead 2-1, scoring Jose Ramirez. Josh Jung’s RBI double plated Michael Helman in the top half.
Adolis Garcia launched a 433-foot home run in the fourth against Joey Cantillo to pull the Rangers even at 2-all. Cantillo struck out eight over 5⅔ innings and Latz had six strikeouts in 5⅓ innings
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
