The Cleveland Guardians knew they needed to stop the bleeding.
A three-game sweep at the hands of the Cincinnati Reds sounded the alarms, as the AL Central race was quite tight, and while it’s still early in the season, they would have to tread a lot of water to get back in the mix.
They bounced back against the Minnesota Twins, and they rode that momentum into their series with the Detroit Tigers.
They’ve now won three of their first four games against A.J. Hinch’s team.
However, manager Stephen Vogt dismissed the narrative of this being a must-win series for his team:
“It’s not a must win, but it feels good to win the series and we’ve got one more tomorrow,” said manager Stephen Vogt. “Anytime you play in the division, you want to win the series.”
Of course, it’s not like he would say that the team had entered desperation mode in late May, and perhaps there was never anything to be worried about.
Then again, we’ve seen teams jump into an early lead in the division and never look back, and the Tigers look like a very good team right now.
The Guardians entered the series with a six-game deficit.
Fast forward to today, and they’ve cut the Tigers’ lead in half, and they’re also right back in second place.
More importantly, this kind of series sends the right message and should be a huge morale boost for this team.
The Guardians will look to keep this momentum going and close out the sweep when Logan Allen takes the mound to face Tarik Skubal in a duel of southpaws.
NEXT: Guardians Manager Makes Big Statement About Jose Ramirez
