The Cleveland Guardians and Chicago White Sox are both still vying for the AL Central, but who owns the tie-breaking scenario?
After clinching a playoff spot on Thursday night, the Cleveland Guardians still have work to do over the final three games of the regular season.
Cleveland will now, at the very least, be a wild-card team in the American League playoffs this year, but this team wants more. The Guardians are still in the running for the AL Central division crown, and this will be on the line over the final few games.
The Guardians hold a slim 1.0 game lead over the Chicago White Sox for the division entering the final series of the season. Both Cleveland and Chicago have clinched playoff spots, but the division holds so much more for each team.
Whichever team wins the division will also get a first-round bye, giving them a few extra days off before the division series starts. This would also give the winner home-field advantage for the series, which could be huge.
Who Owns Tie Breaker Between Guardians and White Sox?
But for the Guardians, they have to make sure to finish the regular season at least one game ahead of the White Sox. Chicago owns the tiebreaker over the Guardians after taking the head-to-head season series.
The White Sox won seven games against the Guardians, while Cleveland took six games from Chicago. This tiebreaker could be massive for each team if they were to finish with the same record at the end of the weekend.
The Guardians will be taking on the Kansas City Royals on the road for a three-game series, while the White Sox will host the Colorado Rockies for three games. Entering this series with Kansas City, the Guardians have gone 8-2 over their last 10 games overall.
Cleveland has the advantage heading into the final weekend of games, but they will need to take care of business against the Royals. Kansas City sits in last place in the AL Central, but they have players who could make life tough for the Guardians.
The Guardians have gone 5-5 against the Royals this season, which could spell some trouble. In the last series between the two teams, Kansas City took two of three games from Clevelnd.
But the past is the past, and the Guardians are focused on simply playing good baseball over the final few games to position themselves well for the playoffs. Winning the AL Central would offer the Guardians a better chance to go on a deep playoff run, but only time will tell how the two series will unfold.
