The Cleveland Guardians suffered another ugly loss against the New York Yankees, this time with a 6-0 final score, to drop a three-game series against them in the Bronx.
Cleveland started the week with an impressive 9-5 extra-innings win on Tuesday, but their play in the next two games was, for the lack of a better word, disappointing.
They lost 8-1 on Wednesday and 6-0 on Thursday, with the offense being limited to just one hit all afternoon.
Steven Kwan, the Guardians leadoff hitter, singled in the first at-bat of the game.
After that, Cleveland couldn’t even log another hit: just six walks, five from Yankees starter Gerrit Cole.
Final from The Bronx.#Guardians | #ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/FEgrlVlL8r
— Cleveland Guardians On SI (@GuardiansOnSI) August 22, 2024
To the contrary, Guardians starter Gavin Williams couldn’t sustain his dominant form in the earlier innings and ended up allowing three runs in 4.1 innings.
He struck out five, but he was also wild with four free passes.
Some of those runs were scored after he departed the game, though, as Nick Sandlin allowed a three-run homer to Giancarlo Stanton in the fifth and both of those runners belonged to Williams.
Guardians pitching has mostly gotten the job done this season, particularly the bullpen.
At the moment, however, the offense is probably their most concerning unit.
The team scored just two runs between Wednesday and Thursday.
Cleveland has failed to score more than three runs within the first nine innings of their last six games if we consider the fact that six of the nine runs they produced on Tuesday’s opener came in extras.
It’s very hard to win like that: the pitching staff is under enormous pressure to be nearly flawless every game.
Guys like Kwan, Josh Naylor, Jose Ramirez, Lane Thomas and Andres Gimenez need to get back on track soon if the Guardians want to keep leading the AL Central.
NEXT: Guardians Coach Has Faith In Struggling Infielder
