CLEVELAND — The Guardians are closing in on a playoff spot .
Entering Thursday's game against the Tampa Bay Rays, the Guardians held a 4.5-game lead in the AL Central race, and the top group of six teams (the Guardians, Royals, Twins, Yankees, Orioles and Astros) are all moving toward possibly clinching playoff spots within the next week or so.
Check back here for live score updates, highlights and analysis throughout Thursday night's game.
The Guardians had a quick ninth inning and have fallen 5-2 to the Rays Thursday night.
Last year's second-round pick is already on the mound for the Guardians, as Andrew Walters is making his MLB debut in the ninth. Walters has six family members in attendance to see his debut.
And strangely, his big league career begins with an automatic ball due to the pitch clock that gives Jose Siri a walk to lead off the inning.
After Siri stole second and advanced to third via a throwing error on Bo Naylor, he scored on a Driscoll sacrifice fly to left field. The Rays now lead 5-2 entering the bottom of the ninth.
Steven Kwan made a tremendous play to hold the Ray's lead at 4-2. With one out in the eighth, and Josh Lowe on third, Kwan fielded a routine flyout down the left field line. Lowe took over for home, but Kwan delivered a near-perfect, one-hop throw to home plate, and Bo Naylor was able to tag Lowe out in a bang-bang play.
Josh Naylor also made a nice diving stop earlier in the inning. The Guardians are still down 4-2, but it would have been worse if not for some nice defense.
The Rays have added an insurance run in the eighth via a Jose Caballero single back up the middle off of Guardians reliever Pedro Avila. Tampa leads 4-2.
The Guardians lineup has gone a bit cold, but reliever Erik Sabrowsi did well to hold the Rays at bay, recording four outs with only a hit allowed and two strikeouts, helping Cleveland to advance to the bottom of the seventh still trailing only 3-2.
The Rays battled back in the fourth.
With a runner on third, Jonathan Aranda hit a sacrifice fly deep enough to center field to score Josh Lowe to tie it 2-2. Later, with two runners on, Jonny DeLuca singled to center field to score Jose Caballero (who narrowly missed a two-run home run earlier in the inning) to give the Rays a 3-2 lead.
Lane Thomas is having himself quite the night. Already with an RBI double to his name, he also just ended the top of the third inning with a sliding catch in center field with the Guardians leading 2-1. Gavin Williams has settled down a bit after another shaky first inning.
In the second, the Guardians took their first lead of the night via Andres Gimenez, who singled home the go-ahead run and then advanced to second on the throw to third, which was late to try to nab Kwan.
Lane Thomas is still swinging a red-hot bat. After an ice-cold start to his Guardians tenure, Thomas has started to heat up as of late and tied it 1-1 with an RBI double in the first inning Thursday night.
The Guardians nearly brought home a run earlier, but Yandy Diaz made a great play to throw home on a grounder to get Steven Kwan at home.
The Rays have grabbed an early lead. Brandon Lowe, the second hitter of the game, lined a solo shot over the right-field wall off Gavin Williams, and the Rays have a quick 1-0 lead over the Guardians.
Williams is coming off of a beat-down at the hands of the Dodgers in which he couldn't escape the first inning.
Alex Cobb is headed back to the injured list, this time with a blister on his middle finger. He had just returned from a fractured nail. Cobb also dealt with a blister prior to being acquired by the Guardians .
Andrew Walters , 23, went 4-0 with a 2.32 ERA, eight saves, 79 strikeouts and a 1.15 WHIP in 50 appearances between Double-A and Triple-A, his first full year in the minor leagues.
Walters was drafted in the second round of last year's draft, making for a quick rise through the Guardians' system.
Below is some pregame information
Guardians magic number, standings
The Guardians entered Thursday with a magic number to clinch a playoff spot at seven and a magic number to win the division at 12.
The magic number will lower every time the Guardians win or every time the second-place team in those scenarios loses.
Lane Thomas heating up with Guardians
With his dad's help as a former race car driver, Lane Thomas is finding his way with the Guardians .
Sam Hentges to undergo season-ending shoulder surgery
Sam Hentges' 2024 season is finished, and his entire 2025 season is also in jeopardy .
Jose Ramirez has 30/30 season in 2024
Jose Ramirez became the first Cleveland hitter in franchise history with multiple 30/30 seasons.
MGK tossed the ceremonial first pitch, but he did so in an interesting manner that was anything but traditional .
Jhonkensy Noel's renewed approach on putting the ball in play has led to breakout 2024 season
Jhonkensy knows he has the power. It took a new focus on contact and mobility to lead to his great rookie season thus far.
Guardians name CC Sabathia to team Hall-of-Fame
CC Sabathia is now in the Guardians' Hall-of-Fame, and he offered a two-part message to Cleveland fans .
Guardians No. 1 overall draft pick Travis Bazzana meets Jose Ramirez, wants to grow the game in Australia
It all finally sank in for Travis Bazzana , the top overall draft pick in the draft, when he stepped onto the field at Progressive Field and met Jose Ramirez and others.
Major League Baseball released the 2025 schedules .
2024 National Sports Card Convention comes to Cleveland
The National Sports Card Convention was in Cleveland recently. We broke down how we'd spend $100 , ranked the most mind-blowing items we could find and listed the top collectibles for under $50 .
Today's game will be televised on FOX. It'll be broadcast on the radio by WTAM (1100-AM) and WMMS (100.7-FM).
The Guardians begin an eight-game homestand Thursday at Progressive Field that will feature four-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays and then the Minnesota Twins.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cleveland Guardians vs. Tampa Bay Rays recap; Rays rally to beat Guards at home
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