No reason to worry about Guardians following Game 2 loss to Tigers

Cleveland Guardians v Detroit Tigers
Cleveland Guardians v Detroit Tigers / Nic Antaya/GettyImages

The ending of Monday's ALDS matchup between the Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers was gutwrenching. Tied 0-0 with two men on and two outs in the top of the 9th inning with Emmanuel Clase on the mound, the expectation should be for the best closer in baseball to get out of it. Unfortunately, Clase would give up a three-run homer to Kerry Carpenter, which proved to be the difference in the game as the Tigers won 3-0 and tied the series 1-1. Even though this game ended on a very bad note, there is no reason to worry about the Guardians' chances in this series moving forward.

Before getting into the specifics of this particular series, it is definitely worth pointing out that every team finds themselves in the same spot as of now. Every Division Series is tied at 1-1, making it the first time that this has ever happened. Knowing that the Guardians are not alone here should be somewhat comforting, considering the star-studded teams remaining in the playoff field are in the same place as Cleveland.

With that out of the way, let's get into the specifics between Cleveland and Detroit. If there was any game that the Guardians were going to lose, it was going to be one where they were facing Tigers ace and American League Cy Young favorite Tarik Skubal on the mound. Not that losing this game in particular in the manner they did is acceptable, but if you were told before the series began that it would be tied after two games and one of those featured Skubal, plenty would be more than fine with that result.

This series has now become a best of three and the Tigers will not have the services of Skubal until Game 5, assuming that there is a fifth game played between these two ballclubs. The Guardians have a clear advantage in the pitching department, with Skubal out of commission until the weekend. This means that Cleveland's offensive output should resemble more of what was seen in Game 1 rather than Game 2, giving the Guardians the opportunity to put this series away before they have to face Skubal again.

The only time to be worried about the Guardians is if this series goes the full five games. A winner-take-all all Game 5 against the assumed AL Cy Young winner is a situation that no team wants any part of. But until that is on the table, there is absolutely no need to go into full-blown panic mode.