The Cleveland Guardians will try to maintain some wiggle room atop the American League Central when they face the visiting Texas Rangers in the rubber game of their three-game series on Sunday.

The Guardians have a two-game lead over the Minnesota Twins and Kansas City Royals in the division. The lead had dwindled to one game for the first time since May 14 entering Saturday, but Cleveland defeated the Rangers 13-5 and the Royals lost 11-2 to the Philadelphia Phillies.

Rookie Jhonkensy Noel hit a three-run homer for the Guardians in the win on Saturday, and his 11 home runs through his first 40 games with Cleveland is second-most in franchise history behind Russell Branyan (12).

“That’s what we always try to do, try to get the next guy up,” Noel said through an interpreter.

Matthew Boyd (0-0, 3.38 ERA) is set to make his third start for the Guardians since returning from Tommy John surgery.

He gave up one run and three hits in 5 1/3 innings in his first game back on Aug. 13 against the Chicago Cubs, but he did not earn the decision in the 2-1 win.

Boyd was back on the mound Tuesday against the New York Yankees and he surrendered three runs and four hits in 5 1/3 innings, but did not receive a decision in Cleveland’s 9-5 win in 12 innings.

“Matt wasn’t as sharp as he was the first time out,” Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said. “He struggled with the command of his secondary pitches, but he was throwing a lot of strikes with his fastball and sinker. He gave up the two solo shots early and settled in. He’s coming back from surgery, so he’s not always going to have his best stuff, but he knows how to pitch and he knows how to navigate.”

The Rangers plan to start left-hander Cody Bradford in the series finale.

Bradford (4-1, 3.56) is coming off his first loss of the season, but it was another quality start. He allowed three runs and five hits in seven innings of a 4-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday.

He tied a career high with eight strikeouts and threw 71 of his 96 pitches for strikes.

“He gave us a chance to win,” Texas manager Bruce Bochy said. “You’ll take those seven solid innings there.”

Bradford missed three months earlier this season with a fractured rib.

“His arm is fresh. He’s missed a lot of time,” Bochy said. “He was out there in the seventh, 90 pitches and still locating with good stuff, just like last game. It’s always good to get some work done after you’ve missed so much time.”

Bradford, 26, said he feels like he still has plenty of mileage left. Not only this season, but down the road.

“I still feel young in this game,” Bradford said. “I feel like I learn something new every single outing. I definitely try to be a student of the game and learn where I can improve.”

Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux reminds Bradford to trust the quality of his pitches, which he says can be the biggest hurdle in becoming a successful major league pitcher.

“If you can trust your stuff and have confidence that you may not throw the hardest, but you can actually throw pitches where you need to, more times than not, the results will be good,” Bradford said.

He has faced the Guardians twice and is 1-1 with a 12.00 ERA. The 33-year-old Boyd is 1-7 with an ERA of 6.49 in 11 appearances (10 starts) against the Rangers.

–Field Level Media