Guardians rally one last time in the regular season to beat Texas after clinching Central Division

CLEVELAND — The Guardians had already staged a remarkable comeback to clinch a playoff berth, but they had one more rally left in them. Trailing for much of the regular-season finale against the Rangers at Progressive Field on Sunday afternoon, Cleveland came from behind to win 9-8 on Brayan Rocchio's three-run walk-off home run in the 10th inning. The victory didn't clinch the division championship since the Tigers lost minutes before to accomplish that, but it sure felt like it after the Guardians erased a 15 1/2-game deficit on July 8 and completed the largest comeback to win their division or league in MLB history, surpassing the 1914 Boston Braves. "We didn't sign up to be in first place at the beginning of the season or halfway through the season. We signed up to get to the playoffs and win this division at the last game of the year, and what a way to do it," said team leader Austin Hedges during a second straight champagne celebration. "We wanted to do it for the fans. All these fans have been showing up all year, another two million here. They deserved to see us truly win the division, and no one's surprised in here with how we did it. "(Saturday) was special, making the playoffs, but to actually finish the job in a division we were almost mathematically eliminated, for that to happen was pretty special. We wanted to do it on our terms and go win the game." It is the second straight Central Division title in Stephen Vogt's second year as a major league manager, and the first time Cleveland has won the division in consecutive seasons since 2016-18 under Terry Francona. "This team just shocks, surprises, they're resilient. Nothing gets them down. I just couldn't be more proud of them," said Vogt, who got emotional in the dugout after seeing the Detroit final on the Progressive Field scoreboard. "From where we've been, from everything we've gone through, yes, we got in and that was awesome, but to win the division after everything we've been through … 15½ games back and to come back and do it, and we did it with a win. "It just solidifies that these guys earned every bit of it. Nothing that these guys have accomplished all year has been given." To cap the momentous occasion, Cleveland's brightest star, Jose Ramirez, ran onto the field waving a Central Division championship flag before planting it as the crowd roared. "At some point, we were 15½ games behind, and the next thing you know we're winning the division," Rocchio said through an interpreter. The Guardians entered the game knowing a loss and a Tigers' victory would prevent them from winning the division and send them to Detroit for the wild card series. And they trailed early after left-hander Logan Allen allowed four runs over only 4 1/3 innings. Cleveland trailed 5-3 when Jhonkensy Noel hit a homer to right-center to bring his team within a run in the seventh. The Guardians tied it an inning later after consecutive doubles from Bo Naylor and pinch hitter Kyle Manzardo, followed by Rocchio's sacrifice fly, but the Rangers dealt another blow with a three-run, pinch-hit homer from Rowdy Tellez off Zak Kent that appeared to put the game away in the 10th. But as they did all season, the Guardians got off the canvas and landed the knockout punch. Naylor started the bottom of the inning with another double to score the extra runner and Petey Halpin walked to two aboard for Rocchio. Down 1-2, Rocchio launched the game-winning homer to right off Jose Corniell. "It's incredible, not only because of the homer and the walk-off, but knowing that we were going to win the division the right way." Next up is a postseason rematch against Detroit in the wild card series, which begins Tuesday (1:08 p.m.) at Progressive Field. "Now we get to play in front of our awesome fans here in Cleveland and that's what we wanted," Vogt said. "That's why today mattered. We want to play at home. We get so much energy from our amazing fans. They showed out this homestand." Cleveland's mission is a lofty one after advancing to the ALCS last year. "World Series, that's always been the goal," Hedges said. "We just won this division. Everyone counted us out. I'm sure a lot of people aren't counting us in the playoffs. We'll go shock em there, too." Contact Chris Assenheimer at (440) 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @CAwesomeheimer on X.