How C. J. Kayfus Kept Cleveland Guardians playoff hopes alive against Kansas City Royals

Cleveland Guardians rookie C.J. Kayfus' 8th inning heroics keeps Cleveland 3.5 games back in the American League Wild Card chase.

Sep 11, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians right fielder CJ Kayfus (63) celebrates his two-run home run with catcher Bo Naylor (23) in the eighth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images | David Richard-Imagn Images

They’re not gonna quit, are they? The battle is uphill, sitting 3.5 games behind the Seattle Mariners (4.5 if you include the tiebreaker) for the last American League Wild Card spot, but the Cleveland Guardians are not going down without a fight.

After Wednesday’s loss to the Royals, Thursday could have been a rollover performance when Vinnie Pasquantino opened the game with a two-run home run. Cleveland fought back again.

Gavin Williams labored at times through six innings but allowed just four hits and three walks. Williams kept the Royals off the scoreboard after Pasquantino’s jack. His start capped a great four-game stretch of outings against Kansas City. Slade Cecconi was masterful Monday night, Joey Cantillo followed up Cecconi’s eight innings with eight of his own, and Logan Allen was steadfast on Wednesday, keeping the team in the ballgame before Williams’ strong Thursday. The Guardians starting pitchers’ length this week allowed for a slew of relievers to be used to secure a close game to lead to last night’s comeback.

Jose Ramirez knocked in Steven Kwan in the bottom of the fourth inning to cut the deficit in half, continuing his strong September. Ramirez has enjoyed one of his best years on and off the field, and this team will stay in the pennant race as long as his bat scorches Earth. Ramirez’s Hall of Fame trajectory grows with every passing year his OPS hovers around .900 and he wills Cleveland’s offense toward October.

The biggest hit of the night came in the eighth inning—the biggest of CJ Kayfus’ young career, that is. With Bo Naylor on base, Kayfus launched a low pitch into the right-center field bullpen seats to give Cleveland a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the frame. It hasn’t been all rainbows for the prospect since his debut, as he’s hovered around the Mendoza line, but the home run was a flash of Kayfus’ potential and should be a confidence-building block.

“There’s no feeling in the world like that one,” Kayfus told The Athletic’s Zack Meisel. “That was truly, probably the best feeling I’ve ever had in my life right there.” That sounds like a young man who got his swagger back. Kayfus’ home run, combined with Williams’ start and the bullpen’s incredible performance, keeps the Guardians hanging on by a thread in the Wild Card race.

Cleveland now has a strong chance to make up ground on Seattle as they head to Chicago to take on the downtrodden White Sox before looping back to Detroit for another division series next week.