Cleveland Guardians clinch first AL Central title since 2018

ARLINGTON, Texas — Cleveland has another new name this year: AL Central champions.

Four of rookie Steven Kwan's career-high five RBIs came on his first career grand slam in the eighth inning, and Aaron Civale allowed two runs on three hits in five innings as the Guardians beat the Texas Rangers 10-4 on Sunday.

They clinched the division title about 15 minutes before their game ended, when the second-place Chicago White Sox lost to Detroit.

The Guardians have made it look easy recently, opening a 10-game lead with 10 days left. Tied for first going into Labor Day, Cleveland has won 18 of 21 games, including the last seven.

Cleveland scored four runs in the third inning on four singles plus a throwing error and added two in the sixth on Gabriel Arias' triple following fielding errors by middle infielders Corey Seager and Marcus Semien.

In the eighth, Kwan's fly to deep right bounced off the back wall just behind the outfield fence and back onto the field. Kwan also singled in the third and seventh.

Civale (3-6) is 21-0 when provided at least three runs of support. He struck out seven and walked none, throwing 75 pitches in his second start since returning from the injured list following forearm inflammation.

This is Cleveland's 11th Central title since the division's inception in 1994 and its fourth in 10 years under manager Terry Francona, who battled health problems the past two seasons but has enjoyed this ride with a team that may have surprised early on but is now being viewed as a legitimate World Series threat.

This season wasn't supposed to happen.

After dropping Indians as their nickname following the 2021 season, a move that rankled a sizable portion of Cleveland's fan base, the Guardians did little to upgrade