After best stretch of season, tough slide has Guards back at .500
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ARLINGTON -- When Logan Allen got back to the Guardians’ dugout following the fifth inning on Saturday, he received a pat on the back from Stephen Vogt. It was a moment of support from Cleveland’s manager to the left-hander, who had a tough night.
A tough night that was part of a continued tough stretch for the Guardians, and a forgettable road trip through Arizona and Texas.
The Guardians fell back to .500 (64-64) after their 10-0 loss to the Rangers at Globe Life Field. It marked Cleveland’s eighth loss over its past 10 games, which includes a 1-4 record against the D-backs and Rangers this week.
The Guardians are in danger of falling under .500 on Sunday for the first time since July 29, when they were 53-54.
“Tough one to take tonight,” said Allen, who was charged with a career-high nine runs on eight hits over five innings. “But, we’ve got a chance to come back tomorrow and salvage the series, so that's what we've gotta do.”
That’s the best the Guardians can hope for this weekend after they also dropped Friday’s series opener, 4-3, in walk-off fashion. Saturday’s loss secured Cleveland’s third consecutive series loss, all following the club’s best stretch of baseball this season.
The Guardians won five straight series from July 28-Aug. 14. Going back a bit further, they went 23-9 from July 7-Aug. 14. After finishing a series win over the Marlins on Aug. 14, the Guardians stood just a half game back of the Yankees for the final American League Wild Card spot.
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With Saturday’s loss, Cleveland fell to four games behind Seattle (69-61) for the final spot.
The Guardians fell behind early on Saturday. After Allen issued a leadoff walk to Josh Jung in the second inning, Cody Freeman crushed a two-run homer off a four-seam fastball on the inner half of the plate.
Allen surrendered a two-run blast to Jung in the third on a changeup down and in. In the fifth, Adolis García hit a two-run shot off a four-seamer that was in off the plate. The three homers tied a career high surrendered by Allen (also June 25, 2024, against the Orioles).
Allen has been steady for the Guardians this season; he had a 3.87 ERA over 24 games (including 23 starts) entering the night. Asked what went wrong Saturday, Allen had a straightforward response.
“Everything,” Allen said. “I didn’t really throw up any zeros outside of that first inning. I wasn't able to stop the bleeding.”
Allen had a tough break in the third before Jung’s homer. Kyle Higashioka hit a potential inning-ending 6-4-3 double play grounder. Brayan Rocchio gathered the throw from Gabriel Arias to record the first out, but dropped the ball transferring it from his glove to his hand.
Higashioka reached first, bringing Jung to the plate with two outs.
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“I haven't seen [the replay],” Vogt said. “It kind of looked like [Rocchio] rushed the transfer just a tick. I think he had a little more time than he thought. Those things happen. … We’ve got to make plays. We’ve got to make pitches, and we have to have better at-bats.”
The Guardians only had three hits on Saturday, all singles. Their offensive output is one of the larger takeaways from this recent downturn. Consider their production from a few extended stretches:
• During their 10-game losing streak (June 26-July 6), the Guardians averaged 1.5 runs per game, recorded a .498 OPS and posted a .096 average with runners in scoring position.
• During their 23-9 stretch, the Guardians averaged 5.3 runs per game, recorded a .740 OPS and posted a .271 average with RISP.
• Entering Saturday, Cleveland was 1-6 in its past seven games while averaging 2.6 runs per game, to go along with a .549 OPS and a .163 average with runners in scoring position.
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What the Guardians did during that hot stretch gives them confidence that they can get things back on track. They have lost by one run four times since Sunday, too.
We’re not at a point in the calendar when players check the standings every day. But they are aware of who they’re competing against. As the Guardians know, too, with 34 games left in the season, it’s getting into crunch time.
They believe they can make a push. The time to do so is now.
“That’s what's so great about baseball,” David Fry said. “You have a bad day one day and something happens, but you show up the next night and get ready to play. We're very much in it, and we trust everybody we got in here.
“We all fully believe that we're going to make a run at this thing.”