Guardians remain tied in the AL Central after 7-3 loss to Rangers | iNFOnews.ca
Texas Rangers' Alejandro Osuna, left reacts with third base coach Tony Beasley after hitting a three-run home run off Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Slade Cecconi during the first inning of a baseball game, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Phil Long)

Guardians remain tied in the AL Central after 7-3 loss to Rangers

CLEVELAND (AP) — Alejandro Osuna hit a three-run homer in the first, rookie Jack Leiter matched a career high with 10 strikeouts and the Texas Rangers beat Cleveland 7-3 on Friday night.

The Guardians (86-74) remained tied with Detroit for the AL Central lead after the Boston Red Sox rallied for a 4-3 victory over the Tigers.

The Guardians have a magic number of one to clinch a postseason spot — win and/or Astros loss —after the Los Angeles Angels rallied for a 4-3 victory over Houston. The Astros are one game back for the final wild-card spot.

Cleveland also has a magic number of two — wins and/or Detroit losses — to wrap up the division.

If Cleveland and Detroit end up tied after Sunday’s games, the Guardians would win the AL Central due to an 8-5 advantage in the season series and host a Wild Card Series starting Tuesday.

Kyle Manzardo had a two-run homer to center in the first inning for the Guardians, who have dropped consecutive games for the first time since Sept. 2.

Leiter (10-10) continued his mastery of Cleveland after throwing seven shutout innings with 10 strikeouts on Aug. 23. The 25-year old right-hander went seven innings for the third time in 34 career starts and allowed two runs on four hits while throwing 101 pitches.

Texas, which won for only the second time in its last 10 games, got its first two batters aboard before Rowdy Tellez hit a one-out, RBI double off the wall in left-center. With two outs, Osuna lined a hanging curveball off Cleveland starter Slade Cecconi (7-7) into the stands in right-center to make it 4-0.

The Guardians cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the first on Manzardo’s two-run drive to center field.

Key moment

The Rangers got some breathing room in the seventh on a two-run single by Cody Freeman with the bases loaded. Jake Burger added an RBI base hit to make it 7-2.

Key stat

Osuna has a hit in eight of Texas’ last nine games. He is batting .211 this season, but has a team-leading .304 average in September, going 17 of 56.

Up next

On Saturday, Texas will go with LHP Jacob Latz (2-0, 2.80 ERA) while Cleveland will counter with LHP Joey Cantillo (5-3, 3.21 ERA).

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Guardians remain tied in the AL Central after 7-3 loss to Rangers | iNFOnews.ca
Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jack Leiter, foreground watches Cleveland Guardians’ Kyle Manzardo round the bases after hitting a two-run home run during the first inning of a baseball game, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Phil Long)
Guardians remain tied in the AL Central after 7-3 loss to Rangers | iNFOnews.ca
Texas Rangers’ Jonah Heim throws out Cleveland Guardians’ Kyle Manzardo at first base after a passed ball on a third strike during the third inning of a baseball game, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Phil Long)
Guardians remain tied in the AL Central after 7-3 loss to Rangers | iNFOnews.ca
Texas Rangers’ Michael Helman, front and Billy McKinney, rear, are greeted by their teammates after scoring on an RBI single by Cody Freeman during the seventh inning of a baseball game, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Phil Long)
Guardians remain tied in the AL Central after 7-3 loss to Rangers | iNFOnews.ca
Texas Rangers’ Michael Helman scores on a single by Cody Freeman off Cleveland Guardians relief pitcher Jakob Junis during the seventh inning of a baseball game, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Phil Long)

News from © The Associated Press, . All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Join the Conversation!

Want to share your thoughts, add context, or connect with others in your community?

Create a free account

The Associated Press

The Associated Press is an independent global news organization dedicated to factual reporting. Founded in 1846, AP today remains the most trusted source of fast, accurate, unbiased news in all formats and the essential provider of the technology and services vital to the news business. More than half the world’s population sees AP journalism every day.

Related Articles