Magic number down to 1 despite Tribe’s shutout

CLEVELAND — White Sox left-hander Carlos Rodon delayed the Indians’ party on Sunday afternoon. With a brilliant eight-inning performance at Progressive Field, Rodon led Chicago to a 3-0 win over the American League Central-leading Tribe, which could have clinched the division outright in its final home game of the season.

“They’re eventually going to win it, but we won’t be around to see them celebrate, which is meaningful,” White Sox third baseman Todd Frazier said. “You have to take pride in every series and game. They’re going to have to do it on the road, which is good.”

With Detroit’s loss to Kansas City, Cleveland saw its magic number reduced to one and clinched at least a share of the AL Central crown. Under that scenario, which would require the Indians losing the remainder of their games and the Tigers winning out, Cleveland and Detroit would face a Game 163 tiebreaker.

Cleveland would have needed both Toronto and Baltimore to lose in order to clinch at least a spot in the AL Wild Card Game, but both clubs won on Sunday, so the earliest the Tribe can clinch a postseason berth is Monday.

The Indians head to Detroit on Monday to begin a four-game set with the Tigers.

“You want to do it in front of the home crowd,” Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis said. “It would’ve been fun to give high-fives down the line, all that stuff, but we’ll push it back until tomorrow in Detroit, hopefully.”

Rodon matched a career high with 11 strikeouts and spun eight scoreless innings for the first time in the big leagues. The lefty also lowered his career ERA to 2.45 against the Indians, who have struck out 55 times in 55 innings all time against Rodon.

“He’s a young pitcher and he’s getting better with starts,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “We’ve seen a lot of him because he’s in our division. His offspeed is better, even his delivery is smoothing out and, like a lot of young pitchers that have talent, you’re starting to see him gain experience. He’s pretty good.”

Josh Tomlin provided a solid start for Cleveland, limiting Chicago to two runs (one earned) over 6 2/3 innings. Carlos Sanchez accounted for both runs off Tomlin, delivering an RBI single in the fifth inning and a sacrifice fly for the White Sox in the seventh. Omar Narvaez added some insurance for Chicago with a run-scoring single off Zach McAllister in the ninth.

MOMENTS THAT MATTEREDManagerial wheels churning: White Sox manager Robin Ventura made the right move at the right time Sunday to give Rodon and the White Sox an …

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