The Cleveland Guardians lost another baseball game, this time on Monday, 7-6 against the Arizona Diamondbacks in extras.
It was Cleveland’s third straight loss and they have all come at a bad time: the Minnesota Twins have won five games in a row and are now 3.5 games behind the Guards in the AL Central standings.
It’s the closest the Twins have been to the Guardians in quite a while, and it shows that A) the season is very, very long; and B) Minnesota is a quality baseball team peaking at the right time.
But the Guardians are also a quality baseball team that happens to be going through a bit of a rough patch in recent games.
On Monday, one of the units that has carried the team to first place so far cost them the game: the bullpen.
Final. pic.twitter.com/KZFD0pll6B
— Cleveland Baseball Insider (@GuardiansOnSI) August 6, 2024
After Cleveland starter Logan Allen gave them five solid innings of two runs in his first start back from Triple-A and the offense scored six times, you would think their fantastic relief corps would secure the victory.
That wasn’t the case, though, at least for one night.
The usually reliable Cade Smith conceded two runs while only getting two outs, Tim Herrin and Scott Barlow also surrendered a run apiece and the incredible Emmanuel Clase allowed the ghost runner to score in the top of the tenth.
He didn’t even allow a hit or a walk, yet lost the game on a sac bunt to sent the runner to third and a sac fly that scored the winning run for Arizona.
Cleveland will host the D-Backs again on Tuesday and will look to end that three-game skid.
Minnesota is knocking at the door.
NEXT: Guardians Keep Dominating MLB In Key Defensive Stat
