The Cleveland Guardians recently enjoyed a stretch that included a seven-game winning streak and 10 victories in 11 games. Baseball being what it is, that wasn’t going to continue forever, and the Guardians have come back down to earth with just two wins in their past six games, including consecutive losses to the Boston Red Sox that closed their weekend series.
Those last two games were significant outliers, as Cleveland’s usually stout bullpen gave up a six-run inning in each of them. That is unlikely to happen again anytime soon.
Meanwhile, the Chicago White Sox have built a five-game winning streak to gain ground on the Guardians in the race for first place in the AL Central. The White Sox are just one game behind entering play on Monday.
Despite that, the Guardians made a notable move in MLB.com’s latest power rankings, moving up one spot to No. 6.
“The hope that the Guardians would figure out a way to run away with the AL Central hit a speedbump this week, not just because of a rough stretch for the Guardians but also the emergence of the red-hot White Sox. They also have a tough slate coming up, including six games against their historical tormentors, the Yankees, in the next 10 days,” Will Leitch wrote.
Cleveland would likely prefer to be playing better when it visits New York for a three-game series that begins on Tuesday. Perhaps the Guardians can take advantage of a day off to reset mentally and give their relievers a breather following a rough couple of days, before taking on the Yankees, who are No. 4 in the power rankings.
The second game, on Wednesday, should be a highlight with Cleveland ace Gavin Williams going for the Guardians against Gerrit Cole, who has been excellent for the Yankees in his first two starts since his return from Tommy John surgery that cost him all of last season. In the series opener, Cleveland will have the tough task of facing Cam Schlittler, who is the current favorite to win the AL Cy Young Award.
The Guardians have yet to play the White Sox, who are ranked No. 12, this season. Their first series of the year is set for June 22-24 in Chicago, and it will be interesting to see if Cleveland will still be in first place when that comes around.
But first, the Guardians will have to get through a tough stretch that also includes series against the Texas Rangers and the rival Detroit Tigers.
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