Stephen Vogt gets to the playoffs with a little help from his friends: Guardians breakfast

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Guardians first-year manager Stephen Vogt was quick to give credit Thursday to the people around him after Cleveland clinched a spot in the 2024 Major League Baseball postseason.

"I would've never got through this season without the coaching staff and the front office and everybody on the staff." Vogt said. "First year manager, you don't know what you don't know. So I've asked a lot of questions."

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Vogt said specifically having bench coach Craig Albernaz, his friend from day one in professional baseball, by his side has made the ride even more enjoyable.

"He's one of the smartest people in baseball," Vogt said of Albernaz. "He's going to manage soon. He has kept me steady. He's kept me under control. He's helped me learn, been patient with me when I suggest dumb things, and he's just been such a great friend and I couldn't imagine working with anybody else."

Anything is possible Vogt grew up a Giants fan watching Barry Bonds stack records with home run after home run in the early 2000s. But the first-year Guardians skipper had to admit Thursday that watching Shohei Ohtani do his thing has been on another level this season.

Ohtani became the charter member of the 50/50 club on Thursday, reaching 51 home runs and 50 steals with a historic three-homer, 10 RBI game against the Marlins. For Vogt, raised three hours north of Dodger Stadium in Visalia, California, seeing what Ohtani has been able to do in his relatively brief time in the major leagues has been impressive.

"He's obviously a special talent and something that we normally don't see," Vogt said of the presumptive National League MVP during Cleveland's recent stop in Los Angeles. "To be able to hit and run the bases the way he does and pitch, it's just something that the game hasn't seen for a really long time. Getting to compete against him is really frustrating, but fun at the same time."

When asked this week whether or not he thinks Ohtani, or any other big league hitter, has a chance to someday surpass Bonds' single-season home run record of 73 set in 2001, Vogt said anything is possible.

"I don't want to say no, but I mean what Barry Bonds did that year was pretty special," Vogt said. "It's doable. There's always going to be somebody that's bigger, stronger, faster. Players are just continuing to get better every single year. I think it is possible, but I'm not sure."

Trivia time

Magic Number: 3 The Guardians' magic number to clinch the American League Central Division championship dropped again Thursday thanks to a 3-2 walkoff win against Minnesota.

The Guardians (89-65) lead over the second-place Royals (82-71) increased to 6 1/2 games in the Central Division standings with eight regular season games remaining..

Any combination of Guardians wins as well as losses by the second-place team (currently the Royals) that equals 3 will give Cleveland the 12th AL Central Division crown in franchise history.

Today's game The Guardians make their final trip of the regular season, a three-game visit to Busch Stadium, to play the Cardinals. RHP Ben Lively (12-9, 3.87) will start for the Guards, while RHP Kyle Gibson (6-7, 4.11) starts for the Cardinals. Game time is 8:15 p.m. ET. Bally Sports Great Lakes, WTAM, WMMS and the Guardians radio network will cover the series.

What's next Here's what awaits the Guardians after Friday's game against the Cardinals.

Saturday: LHP Matthew Boyd (2-1, 2.52) vs. RHP Miles Mikolas (8-11, 5.49) at 7:15 p.m. ET.

Sunday: RHP Gavin Williams (3-10, 5.12) vs. RHP Andre Pallante (7-8, 3.97) Sunday at 2:15 p.m.

Monday: The Guardians are off.

Tuesday: Cincinnati comes to town for a two-game series to start the last homestand of the regular season.