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Cleveland Guardians Accomplish Something They've Only Done Three Times in Wild Card Era

The Cleveland Guardians are off to a historic start in 2024, doing something they've only done three times as a franchise in the last 30 years.
Brady Farkas|
Jun 4, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians relief pitcher Emmanuel Clase (48) reacts after a win over the Kansas City Royals at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 4, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians relief pitcher Emmanuel Clase (48) reacts after a win over the Kansas City Royals at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports | David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

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Cleveland Guardians

Opening up a huge series with the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night, the Cleveland Guardians delivered a huge statement.

The Guardians rallied from 5-0 down to beat the division rivals at Progressive Field. With the win, Cleveland is now 40-20 and leads the Royals by 5.0 games in the division.

It's been a surprising year for the Guardians under first-year manager Stephen Vogt. After finishing third in the AL Central last year, and after seeing Terry Francona retire in the offseason, and then after losing ace Shane Bieber for the season after just two starts, not much was expected from this squad.

Instead of folding, all they've done is be resilient, and they are off to a start hardly rivaled in the last 30 years of team history.

Per @MLBStats on social media:

The @CLEGuardians have won 40 of their first 60 games for the 3rd time in the Wild Card Era (also 1995 and 1999).

That 1995 team went to the World Series and featured one of the best lineups in baseball history with Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome, and Albert Belle, so that's good company to be in.

This group is anchored by Jose Ramirez, who is hitting .272 with 58 RBI. Surprising catcher David Fry is hitting .342 and electric closer Emmanuel Clase has 19 saves and a 0.30 ERA.

The two teams will play again on Wednesday as the Guardians try to deliver another haymaker. First pitch is set for 6:40 p.m. ET as Brady Singer (KC) pitches against Nick Sandlin (CLE).

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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