Guardians complete sweep of White Sox, increase lead in AL Central

Upon entering this week's series with the Chicago White Sox, the Cleveland Guardians knew there was one acceptable outcome. Win the series. Taking two out of three from the worst team in baseball was the bare minimum requirement for the Guardians. Not only did they achieve what they set out to, they surpassed it by completing a three-game sweep in Chicago.

The end result of this series is hardly surprising. The White Sox are a complete disaster, while the Guardians have proven to be the best team in the American League Central all season long. Even though there were a couple of bumps along the way, such as Ben Lively exiting Tuesday's contest in the 2nd inning and a four-run inning taking place on Wednesday afternoon with Matthew Boyd on the mound, the overall result was one that everyone should have expected before the series began. And that result would be a series win for the Cleveland Guardians.

Cleveland's sweep of Chicago results in their AL Central lead growing

The Guardians have been maintaining a slight lead in the American League Central over the Kansas City Royals but were having a hard time seeing it increase. Thanks to Cleveland taking care of business against the lowly White Sox, combined with a Kansas City dropping two out of three to the New York Yankees, the 84-62 Guardians are currently 4.5 games ahead of the 80-67 Royals and are closing in on clinching a postseason berth.

Cleveland's chances of winning the division are increasing by the day as their magic number to do so gets smaller and smaller. The Guardians are within striking distance of not only winning the American League Central for the 12th time since it was created in 1994, but they also happen to be in a prime position to secure a first-round bye in the American League playoffs. There is still a little bit of time before that can come to fruition, but it is within striking distance for Cleveland and has a very good chance of happening as long as they continue to play at their current level.