Guardians clinch post-season berth, completing historic turnaround

Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said during Cleveland's 10-game losing streak in early July there was light at the end of the tunnel and things would turn around.

Vogt ended up selling his team a little short, as the Guardians made one of the biggest turnarounds in baseball history.

Cleveland clinched a post-season spot in fittingly improbable fashion. C.J. Kayfus was hit in the arm by a fastball from Texas Rangers reliever Robert Garcia with two outs and the bases loaded in the ninth inning Saturday night, scoring Petey Halpin with the winning run to give the hometown Guardians a 3-2 victory that put them in the playoffs.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it was the first time since at least 1920 a team won on a walk-off hit by pitch to clinch a post-season spot.

"When they walked [Gabriel] Arias [to load the bases], I knew I had a job to do. I knew I was going to get that job done one way or another, but I definitely didn't think it was going to be like that," said Kayfus, called up from the minors in early August.

The Guardians (86-74) became the fourth major league team and first in the American League to reach the post-season after having a 10-game losing streak, joining the 2017 Los Angeles Dodgers, 1982 Atlanta Braves and 1951 New York Giants.

"It's exactly us. Of course, we're going to get in on a walk-off hit by pitch" a champagne-soaked Vogt said in the clubhouse as his team was celebrating. "Just to stop and think about where we came from to get here, there's no words. I couldn't be more proud of these guys. They've earned every bit of this."

According to FanGraphs, the Guardians had a 2.9 per cent chance to make the postseason and a 0.2 per cent chance to win the AL Central on Sept. 1.

Cleveland remains