Guardians Hit Five Homers, Clinch Third Straight AL Central Title

The Cleveland Guardians hit five home runs and erased an early three-run deficit to beat the Kansas City Royals 11-5 on September 26, clinching their third consecutive American League Central title and a first-round bye in the 2026 MLB playoffs.

Patrick Bailey and Brayan Rocchio each homered twice at Kauffman Stadium, while Chase DeLauter also went deep. Cleveland’s victory, combined with the Chicago White Sox’s 9-6 loss to the Colorado Rockies, secured the division with one regular-season game remaining.

Five home runs power Cleveland’s comeback

Kansas City opened a 3-0 lead against Tanner Bibee in the first inning, but Cleveland answered immediately. Nathaniel Lowe’s sacrifice fly put the Guardians on the board before Bailey hit a two-run homer off Michael Wacha to tie the game.

Steven Kwan followed with an RBI triple that completed a four-run second inning and gave Cleveland a 4-3 advantage. DeLauter, returning after missing four games with a sprained right wrist, added his 16th home run in the third.

Travis Bazzana tripled and scored on Lowe’s second sacrifice fly in the sixth. Rocchio then made it 7-3 with his 14th homer in the seventh.

The Royals cut the lead to two in the eighth, but Bailey and Rocchio opened the ninth with back-to-back solo home runs. Lowe later added a two-run single, completing a four-run inning that removed any remaining doubt.

Cleveland collected 14 hits, nine for extra bases. Bailey recorded the first multi-homer game of his career, while Rocchio finished 3-for-4 with two home runs, a double and three runs scored.

Bibee settles after difficult first inning

Bibee allowed three runs in the opening frame but kept Kansas City scoreless over his next five innings. He completed six innings, allowed seven hits and struck out six to earn the win.

The turnaround gave Cleveland its ninth victory in ten games and extended its run of consecutive series wins to five. The Guardians improved to 85-76 and moved two games ahead of the White Sox with only Sunday’s regular-season finale left.

Guardians secure the AL’s No. 2 seed

The division title gives Cleveland the No. 2 seed in the American League and a bye past the Wild Card Series. The Guardians will open the AL Division Series at Progressive Field after five days of rest.

Cleveland’s path to the title included another major late-season recovery. The club was 60-65 and six games behind Chicago on August 17 before closing strongly enough to take control of the division. MLB reported that Cleveland became the first team to win consecutive division titles after trailing by at least six games through 125 games or later in both seasons.

The Guardians have now won four of the past five AL Central titles and seven in the past eleven seasons. This year’s clincher belonged to a deep lineup that turned a 3-0 deficit into an 11-run night when the division was there to be won.