The Cleveland Guardians had everything set up the way they wanted it, with ace Gavin Williams starting against the Chicago White Sox in the first game of their showdown series for first place in the AL Central. Waiting behind him was one of the hottest bullpens in baseball, if needed.
Unfortunately, things did not go according to plan. Williams needed 113 pitches to get just 15 outs, and he was knocked out of the game after walking Tristan Peters following an incredible 18-pitch at-bat. It left runners on first and second for the relievers to deal with in a scoreless game.
The White Sox wound up scoring six runs in that sixth inning, with four charged to the Guardians bullpen, in a 7-2 victory. Instead of moving into first place, Cleveland now trails Chicago by 1.5 games in the division.
Despite this recent setback, the Guardians’ bullpen has been one of MLB’s best in September, behind only the Toronto Blue Jays, who are trying to chase them down for the final AL wild card.
“Cleveland’s bullpen owns a 2.24 ERA (14 earned runs in 56 1/3 innings) in September. It’s the second-lowest ERA in the big leagues next to Toronto’s 2.10,” Paul Hoynes wrote.
In addition to allowing the two inherited runners to score, reliever Tim Herrin gave up three runs (one earned) in two-thirds of an inning. Daniel Espino, who served as the opener for Cleveland against the Minnesota Twins on Saturday, gave up a long two-run homer to Miguel Vargas before getting out of the inning. Slade Cecconi, a former starter, and Connor Brogdon finished the game.
It was an unexpectedly rough performance at the worst possible time. Cleveland’s bullpen was vital in helping it get back into the division race after trailing Chicago by as many as 6.0 games in mid-August. The Guardians also were able to regain the third AL wild card and lead the Blue Jays by 1.0 game and the Texas Rangers by 1.5 games, looking for a bounce-back performance on Tuesday.
The Guardians still have a chance to leave the series with the White Sox in first place, and if they do, their bullpen will likely play a big role in that effort.
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