Guardians anemic offense wastes yet another Parker Messick gem in loss to Tigers

On Wednesday, the Cleveland Guardians picked up a win over the Tigers that gave them a much-needed tiebreaker over Detroit. 

It took them less than 24 hours to waste away the good vibes from that win, however, as they put together a flat effort today in a 3-0 loss that pushes them to four games under .500 while helping the Tigers gain a bit more of an advantage over Cleveland in the American League Central. 

That loss wasn’t for a lack of trying from Parker Messick, who allowed two runs over 5 2/3 innings with six strikeouts. 

The Guardians entered last weekend with a golden opportunity to make a statement in the division thanks to back to back series against the White Sox and Tigers, but Thursday’s loss means they went just 2-4 across those series and will head into the weekend trailing the White Sox by four games in the division. 

It may as well be 14 games at this point. 

The Guardians offense keeps letting Parker Messick down

Messick’s gem against the Tigers was another dominant outing for the rookie. Although he gave up two runs, he allowed just three hits and one walk to go along with those six strikeouts. His fastball averaged 95 miles per hour (up more than 1.1% from his season average) and he was able to generate seven whiffs on his fastball and four on his changeup. 

After starting his career as more of a crafty left-hander, he’s starting to turn into a dominant power pitcher who is routinely able to blow stuff by opposing hitters. 

The Tigers first run came in the third inning on a bases-loaded groundout from Dillon Dingler that would have been a double play had Angel Genao not mishandled the grounder. While the run would have scored regardless, the bobble removed a potential out, which put Messick even more behind the eight-ball. 

Luckily for the Guardians, he was able to buckle down and get out of the inning by striking out Kevin McGonigle and Eduardo Valencia. While it was great to see Messick be able to wiggle out of such a tough situation, the fact that he was in it in the first place was frustrating. 

The Tigers' other run against Messick came on a home run from Valencia on a curveball left over the plate. 

Meanwhile, Cleveland’s offense tallied just four hits against Detroit’s pitching staff despite not striking out. They recorded four of the game’s top five exit velocities and four of the top five hit distances, but did next to nothing with the five baserunners they were able to get. 

The lone bright spot for the Guardians is that their schedule continues to be soft. After taking on the Padres in three games this weekend, the Guardians are closing out August with series against the Rockies, Angels and Royals, all of whom are under .500 by a significant margin. 

It’s a great opportunity to finally make the push needed to make some noise in the American League Central. Whether they’re able to take advantage of that will be a different story. 

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