The Cleveland Guardians seemed dead and buried multiple times this season, particularly when they went on a 10-game losing streak and were shut out eight times during June and July, and again when closer Emmanuel Clase was placed on leave after becoming the second member of the pitching staff to face an MLB investigation for potential gambling violations.
Despite all that, Cleveland is over .500 and gaining on the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central and on multiple teams in the AL Wild Card race.
Insider Paul Hoynes recently highlighted one area that has propelled Cleveland into the playoff chase.
“Pitching is a big reason why the Guardians have put themselves back in the postseason picture. Since losing 10 straight from June 26 through July 6, they have won 19 of their last 26 games. They are four games above .500 at 59-55 for the first time since June 8. On July 8, they were 15-1/2 games out of first place in the AL Central. After Wednesday’s win, they were six games out of first. In the wild card race, they are 1-1/2 games behind the [New York] Yankees for the third and final spot,” Hoynes wrote.
Since that awful stretch, the Guardians have given up more than six runs in a game only twice, which has coincided nicely with the offense starting to pick it up a bit, thanks to a softer schedule that is about to get even softer with series against the Chicago White Sox, Atlanta Braves and Arizona Diamondbacks coming up.
Gavin Williams, Logan Allen and Slade Cecconi have been delivering one quality start after another over the past few months to help atone for the fact that Shane Bieber was out all year before being traded, Ben Lively is out after having elbow surgery, and Luis L. Ortiz is also being investigated for gambling.
It has been an impressive run thus far, and with how poorly the Tigers have performed since the All-Star break, the Guardians can continue to make up ground in the division.
NEXT: Analyst Names 'Best-Case Scenario' For Guardians In Regular Season
