Based on the season the Cleveland Guardians are having, it was bound to work out this way. After suffering their first three-game losing streak of the season, the Guardians responded with their first three-game winning streak of the campaign, all within the span of one week.
Although they failed to record their first series sweep of the season, losing the finale of a three-game set to the Athletics in Sacramento on Sunday, the Guardians are back over .500 and still in first place in the AL Central. That has been their consistent status, and it really doesn’t show any signs of changing going forward.
As a reflection of that, the Guardians are standing firm in the latest power rankings by MLB.com, holding steady at No. 11 for a second straight week.
“The Guardians are atop an AL Central that looks like it’ll be muddled and tight all year, but their biggest news of the week was the ascension of former No. 1 pick Travis Bazzana to the majors. He had gotten off to a sort of slow start, but he earned his first big league hit on Saturday, a two-run single. Also a good sign: He’s drawn [six] walks (one intentional) in his first five games,” Will Leitch wrote.
Prior to Monday, the Guardians had not won or lost more than two games in a row all season. Bazzana, who was their No. 1 rated prospect, made his MLB debut on Tuesday, and the second baseman went 0-for-2 with two walks as the losing streak reached four games.
Cleveland won the series finale against the Tampa Bay Rays and then the first two games of its road trip against the Athletics. Bazzana ended an 0-for-12 streak to begin his career with a seventh-inning single on Saturday, then went 2-for-3 on Sunday in the loss that ended their season-high winning streak.
An even more encouraging sign was the series had by Chase DeLauter. The rookie outfielder was 8-for-11 against the Athletics and hit his first home run since April 3, a span of 84 at-bats, in the series finale.
Unfortunately, Parker Messick, who has been one of the best pitchers in the American League, had his first truly rough outing of the season. The left-hander gave up four runs, including three solo homers, over five innings.
With the rest of the rotation other than Gavin Williams continuing to struggle, if Messick begins to falter, there may be more losing streaks than winning ones in the Guardians’ future.
NEXT: 2 Guardians Players Are Leading The Way For The Offense
