'We feel the urgency': Guards search for respite after road trip

ARLINGTON -- A nightmarish road trip for the Guardians came to a close on Sunday, when they lost, 5-0, to the Rangers at Globe Life Field as Texas finished off a three-game sweep.

Cleveland went 1-5 on its trip to Arizona and Texas this week, and overall the Guardians have lost eight of their past nine games. At 64-65, they fell below .500 on Sunday for the first time since July 29 (53-54).

“We’re frustrated. This was a really hard road trip,” manager Stephen Vogt said. “Stretches like this happen. We’ve been through these before. It's frustrating. But this is about how we show up tomorrow.

“We're excited to get home and play in front of our fans, I can tell you that. It's been a long road trip for us. We have not played well, and we need to play better, and we know that. So we're frustrated, but we also know that there's a game tomorrow and we're going to be ready to go.”

The glass-half-full outlook is that this was one rough week following a run in which Cleveland played its best baseball this year. That included five consecutive series wins during a stretch in which the Guardians won 23 of 32 games to claw their way back into the postseason race.

On the other hand, this downward stretch has quickly dropped the Guardians to five games back of the final American League Wild Card spot -- and they are now behind the Royals (67-64) and Rangers (66-66) in the race for that spot.

Just 10 days ago, the Guardians sat a half-game out. A lot has changed seemingly in the blink of an eye.

Despite the recent results, the Guardians say they do not feel like the season is getting away from them.

“We're still in August,” left fielder Steven Kwan said. “I feel like it'd be a little premature to say things are getting out of hand. That feels a little reactionary, a little dramatic, if we were to say that.”

Of course, urgency has kicked up, being that there’s just over one month left in the regular season. And considering two of the Guardians’ upcoming three series are matchups with the Mariners and Red Sox (who hold two of the AL’s Wild Card spots), they know they have no time to waste in turning things around.

They will welcome the Rays to Progressive Field for three games on Monday.

“We feel the urgency,” Vogt said. “We know that we have to get going. We know that we can't afford to have this stretch last any longer than it has. I don't think we're ever going to feel like the season is getting away from us. We're going to keep fighting every single day until we're either popping champagne or we're out of it. That's who we are.

“We're going to fight every single day. We're going to keep working and keep a positive mindset that we have an opportunity to win today.”

If they’re going to snap out of this stretch and keep themselves in the postseason race, they need to get going at the plate. Saturday and Sunday marked the first time the Guardians were shut out in consecutive games since June 26 and June 27 (vs. the Blue Jays and Cardinals).

And as has been the case for extended stretches this season, they need more consistent production with runners in scoring position. The Guardians scored three runs all weekend, all on Friday.

In the previous six games, they slashed .158/.256/.211 with RISP, collecting eight RBIs and 15 strikeouts. They went 0-for-5 in those spots on Sunday against Merrill Kelly, Danny Coulombe and Hoby Milner.

Starter Gavin Williams threw 90 pitches (including 51 strikes) over 3 1/3 innings. He allowed three runs on three hits and four walks. It was the eighth time he has walked four or more batters in a start this season, but just the second since the All-Star break.

Williams has tossed less than four innings in two of his three starts since his near-no-hitter vs. the Mets on Aug. 6.

“If you have people on the whole time, it runs up your pitch count,” Williams said Sunday. “I’ve just got to get better and throw more strikes.”

The Guardians will look to put this week behind them fast.

“Short memory,” Kwan said. “Tough road trip, but thankfully, we’ve got tomorrow. So just focus on tomorrow. Focus on who we got next. I feel like that’s all you can do.”