Andrés Giménez singled from second base to drive in José Ramírez in the 10th inning and the Cleveland Guardians clinched a playoff spot in dramatic and fitting fashion, beating the Minnesota Twins 3-2 on Thursday.
With Ramirez on second as the automatic runner, Minnesota reliever Caleb Thielbar (2-4) struck out Josh Naylor and the Twins intentionally walked Lane Thomas to face Gimenez.
The Cleveland second baseman then lined a 3-2 pitch to right field to easily score Ramirez.
As the All-Star third baseman reached third base, the Cleveland dugout emptied onto the field in celebration as the Guardians recorded their MLB-leading 42nd comeback win and second straight in extra innings.
The Guardians are the second American League team to qualify for the postseason, following the New York Yankees, who clinched a spot on Wednesday night.
Cleveland now has a chance to possibly end baseball's longest drought without an active World Series, which dates back to 1948, when the team was known as the Indians.
The Twins threatened in the 10th inning, loading the bases with one out against Eli Morgan (3-0). But the right-hander got out of trouble by retiring Carlos Correa on a foul fly and Byron Buxton on a line drive to right field.
Cleveland's bullpen, which has carried the team all season, combined for 5 2/3 hitless innings.
Rookie Kyle Manzardo homered for the Guardians, who lowered the magic number to clinch the AL Central title to three.
The Twins, who are trying to clinch a wild-card berth, are tied with Detroit for the last spot. The Twins hold the tiebreaker.
It's been an unexpected season for the Guardians, who went 76-86 last season and said goodbye to beloved manager Terry Francona after 11 years. They were expected to be competitive, not one of the best teams in baseball.
But everything has gone well under Stephen Vogt, who before spring training hadn't even completed a lineup.
Cleveland took control of the division in mid-April, and the Guardians have held sole possession of first place for all but one day in the past five months.
Andres Gimenez singles to walk off the Twins and help the Guardians clinch a playoff spot
And while All-Stars Ramirez, Josh Naylor, Steven Kwan and Emmanuel Clase led the way, it's been the contributions of youngsters across the roster that have kept Cleveland consistently among the league's best teams.
The Guardians overcame the loss of ace Shane Bieber in the opening weeks of the season, and Vogt spent much of the season plugging holes in their rotation due to injuries and ineffectiveness.
Shutouted in the first four innings by Cleveland rookie Joey Cantillo, who allowed just one run in 12 innings over his previous two starts, the Twins scored twice in the fifth off the left-hander to go up 2-1 on Manuel Margot's double.
The Guardians tied the game in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Brayan Rocchio.
Manzardo put the Guardians up 1-0 in the first inning with his fourth homer and second in three days. Manzardo finished with three hits and since being called up from Triple-A Columbus on Sept. 1, he is batting .357 (15-for-42) with four runs and seven RBIs in 16 games.
Report from The Associated Press.
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