The Cleveland Guardians fell back under .500 on Thursday when they lost the series opener against the Tampa Bay Rays to open a four-game set, which was their fourth loss in five games, and dropped them to 3.5 games out in the American League Wild Card race.
The Rays have now won seven in a row and have firmly leapfrogged the Guardians in the Wild Card race, and after Thursday’s loss, the team was recently given some highly unfavorable odds when it comes to snagging that playoff berth.
Tim Stebbins of MLB.com wrote about how the Guardians “came out flat” in the Rays game and threw in some rough playoff odds, according to FanGraphs.
“Cleveland’s playoff odds stood at 2.7 percent after Thursday’s loss, according to FanGraphs,” Stebbins wrote.
The Guardians are in the heart of a crucial part of their schedule, which has them going against nearly all of the teams they are chasing in the playoff race.
After going 3-3 against the Seattle Mariners and Boston Red Sox, both of whom are in possession of Wild Card spots, the Guardians will have run out of time to make up ground if they can’t get hot against the Rays and in the upcoming series against the Kansas City Royals.
The offense continues to be an issue, as the Guardians have had little room for error all season and struggle to win any game in which the opposing team scores more than four or five runs.
If the Guardians are going to overcome these 2.7 percent odds, it has to start immediately.
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