CLEVELAND -- backpedaled a few steps and watched the drive off his bat sail deep to right field. As Progressive Field roared around him, the 24-year-old tossed his bat aside and stared at the Guardians’ third-base dugout before he began to hop-step backwards toward first base.

That ball was long gone. The Guardians’ division title hopes are very much alive.

Halpin belted a go-ahead three-run home run in the sixth inning on Wednesday to help send the Guardians to a critical 6-3 win over the White Sox in the rubber match of a three-game series.

The Guardians (78-75) now hold a half-game lead over the White Sox (77-75) for first place in the American League Central. It’s the first time Cleveland has been all alone atop the division standings since the morning of July 4 -- after it beat Chicago 4-3 the night prior.

A series loss likely would have been the nail in the coffin to the Guardians’ quest to win a third consecutive division title. Chicago would have left Cleveland in first place, and it clinched the head-to-head tiebreaker on Monday. That means the Guards have to finish with a better record than the White Sox to win the division.

Instead, everything is in front of the Guardians with nine games remaining in the regular season. And on Wednesday, Halpin reminded us all how anyone can emerge as a hero this time of year.

Halpin, typically a reserve outfielder, drew the start in center on Wednesday as Chase DeLauter and Angel Martínez each were sidelined for the second consecutive day by injuries. Halpin came to the plate with two outs in the seventh, after David Fry and Austin Hedges each drew a walk.

Halpin worked a 3-1 count against left-hander Sean Newcomb. He got a sinker on the inner half of the plate, and he crushed it a Statcast-projected 393 feet and 103.7 mph for the go-ahead blast. 

It was just the left-handed-hitting Halpin’s fourth career hit off a southpaw. He also had a base hit against left-hander Anthony Kay in the third and then scored on a Jo Adell two-run single.

Halpin’s blast saved Parker Messick from a tough-luck loss. Messick allowed three runs on seven hits with eight strikeouts over six innings. A three-run homer by Tommy Pham was the only damage off Messick, the AL Rookie of the Year Award and AL Cy Young Award candidate.