Guardians need more out of their offense if they are going to rebound in Game 3

Game 2 of the ALDS is in the books, and the Cleveland Guardians find themselves tied with the Detroit Tigers with one each. This possibility was known to be a likely result with Tigers ace Tarik Skubal on the mound, but with that being said, the Guardians need more out of their offense if they are going to regain command of this series.

The Guardians managed just four baserunners (three hits and one hit by pitch) in their 3-0 loss to Detroit on Monday. Even though it was somewhat expected that they would have a tough time getting hits or scoring runs, a little more was still expected from a team that collected 10 hits against Skubal back in July. While no one thought they would duplicate the offensive success from Game 1, something better than Monday's display could have been possible. Either way, a repeat performance of what took place in Game 2 simply cannot happen.

Luckily, the Guardians will not have to face Skubal again until Game 5, and that is only if this series goes a full five games. Cleveland appeared to fair quite well against Detroit's "chaos" pitching approach, or whatever nonsensical term was used to describe the method used by manager A.J. Hinch. Guardians hitters seemed to have no problem with attacking that style of managing a pitching staff and would more than likely welcome a second and third go around of it.

The most important thing for the Guardians to focus on is not pressing at the plate. Yes, Monday's result was not great, and everyone is going to attempt to take out their frustration in their first plate appearance in Game 3. As tempting as that may be, they must remain patient in their approach and focus on stringing hits together just like they did in Game 1. If they can accomplish this, they should make quick work of the Tigers before having to face Skubal again, a scenario that no one in Cleveland wants to see.