Guardians clinch, gather together
Cleveland holds a ‘housekeeping’ session
Once the champagne dried, the Guardians made their way back to Cleveland and were greeted at the airport by a crowd of fans.
The American League Central was theirs.
But the Guardians had gone on such a torrid run through September, winning 18 in a 21-game stretch, that it left the Chicago White Sox and Minnesota Twins lapped. Cleveland's entire homestand to close out the season had been rendered meaningless.
As of Thursday, the Guardians have seven games with nothing to play for, nothing on the line. Cleveland can spend those games lining up their pitching for Games 1, 2 and 3 of the Wild Card Series, which is set to begin Oct. 7. The Guardians will likely play either the Seattle Mariners or Tampa Bay Rays.
With a young roster about to embark on a journey to the game's biggest stage, manager Terry Francona held a team meeting to ensure everyone was on the same page.
“It was more kind of almost housekeeping,” Francona said. “Just want to make sure there are some things we talked about that maybe they weren't expecting. … I'll grab guys more one-ononeish.”
One theme of the conversation was to remain grounded.
“That's (why) we met today a little bit, just to remind them of who we are and because there's going to be some more media than we've had in the past, maybe national media,” Francona said. “And good, they deserve that. Just don't want them to forget who we are and how we do things. That's what we're here. If they've made it through 153 games, I think they're going to be OK.”
The Guardians will be able to rest some regulars, as they did with All-star second baseman Andres Gimenez Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Rays. But for those in the lineup, Francona's message was that there will be no letting off the gas.
“Just thought it would be good for [Gimenez] to hit in the cage. … We have the luxury of doing that,'” Francona said. “But saying that, whoever plays, we're going to play the way we play. It's not like 70%. We're going to make sure we line up our bullpen the best we can. But when you play, you play.”