The Cleveland Guardians have to wait at least one more game to clinch a playoff berth after losing to the Boston Red Sox.
The Cleveland Guardians came into Wednesday night’s game against the Boston Red Sox as one of the hottest teams in all of baseball.
Cleveland had won an MLB-best 21 of its last 30 games and was on a seven-game winning streak before the middle game of the series. However, the Guardians' streak ended after a 1-0 loss to the Red Sox.
The story of the games was Cleveland’s inability to generate any sort of offense against Boston’s pitching staff. The Red Sox sent out their A-team as a likely final tune-up before the postseason, and it gave Cleveland plenty of trouble.
The Guardians only tallied four hits off starter Sonny Gray in his six innings of work. Even after the Red Sox turned the game over to their bullpen, Cleveland only had three more baserunners against Tyron Guerrero, Garrett Whitlock, and Aroldis Chapman.
Cleveland’s loss on Wednesday really felt like a missed opportunity for a couple of reasons.
Sep 23, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Cleveland Guardians second baseman Travis Bazzana (37) turns a double play with Boston Red Sox third baseman Caleb Durbin (5) sliding into second base during the second inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn ImagesFirst, Foster Griffin put together his best start with the Guardians after being traded to the team ahead of the deadline. It’s been a rough stretch for the veteran arm with his new team, but Griffin finally settled in and pitched well enough to give Cleveland a chance to win the game.
The left-hander allowed only one earned run, issued no walks, and struck out seven batters in 6.0 innings of work. Griffin did escape quite a bit of traffic, though, allowing 10 hits throughout the night.
When a pitching staff only gives up one run, that has to be a must-win opportunity, especially this time of year with so many playoff outcomes still on the line.
The Guardians could also look back on this loss as a missed chance, considering they could have added an extra game in the American League Central.
The Chicago White Sox lost to the Kansas City Royals in the matchup. Cleveland is still first in the division with Chicago’s outcome on Wednesday, but only by one game, when this victory could have made it two if the Guardians had scored just two runs at Fenway Park.
When the Guardians entered Wednesday night’s contest, they had a path to clinching a spot in the playoffs. Cleveland. Other dominoes had to fall around the league,
However, with the Guardians’ shutout loss, they need to wait at least one more game to hopefully punch their ticket to October.
