Guardians embarrassed by Tigers in Detroit

It is pretty safe to say the four-game series with the Tigers in Detroit did not go as planned for the Cleveland Guardians. There was an opportunity for Cleveland to build upon their American League Central division lead if they had proven capable of taking care of business against the Tigers, but unfortunately, the Guardians dropped three of four in Detroit, and their once robust division lead is now down to 4.5 games.

While the series as a whole was a disappointment, the series opener and series finale were the two most frustrating games to watch. Cleveland was held to just two hits in a 1-0 loss on Monday, as an error by Brayan Rocchio allowed the winning run to score instead of getting out of the inning on a tailor-made double-play ball hit right to him. 99 times out of 100, it is an inning-ending double-play. Even when the attempt to turn two is unsuccessful, it does not seem very often that a scoreless tie is broken in the bottom of the 8th, with the run being the difference in the game.

Thursday afternoon's affair was just as frustrating, just in a different fashion. The Guardians tabbed the recently acquired Spencer Howard to start in Detroit, and things did not go well. The former second-round pick struggled in his Guardians debut, allowing four runs on seven hits and three walks in just 3 innings. This is pretty much in line with what he has been able to show in his career up to this point, but the loss is not entirely on him. Pedro Avila was tagged for five runs in 2.1 innings, resulting in Detroit's lead becoming insurmountable. The biggest offender in this game, however, was the offense. The Guardians managed just three hits in the contest, with their lone run coming via a solo home run from Bo Naylor. Cleveland has proven to be much better than this all season, and to see them lay an egg when they needed to win is incredibly frustrating.

With the series loss now in the books, the Guardians are going to have to work some magic to avoid going into the All-Star Break on a down note, something that they cannot allow to happen. Cleveland needs to find a way to get their act together and string some wins so they are not sitting and thinking about what could have been during their time off from regular season play. The Guardians will be taking on the Tampa Bay Rays for their final three games before the break, and just like the Tigers, they cannot afford to overlook an inferior opponent and drop games they should have won easily.