The Cleveland Guardians haven’t done much easy all season long, so why should the playoffs be any different. Steven Vogt’s team has there back firmly against the wall after dropping Game 2 of the Division Series at Progressive Field by a score of 4-3.
They now have to win the rest of the games of the series, or they will watch the upstart White Sox celebrate in front of them, and then cleaning out their lockers.
The Guardians got off to a quick start with a hit by Steven Kwan, a walk to Jose Ramirez, and Chase DeLauter moved them over on a groundball. After they scored two runs on an error, they have runners on 1st and 3rd with one out. A chance to add on without getting a hit.
Instead, Angel Martinez and Travis Bazzana whiffed. Martinez HAS to put the ball in play there. If you aren’t going to hit the long ball, you have to take advantage and execute when opportunities are available. Time and time again this season, the Guardians have failed to move runners with outs.
In the last week of the season, Nathaniel Lowe had three sacrifice flies and was heralded for having a professional at bat. It’s called a “sacrifice” fly for a reason. The hitter is deliberately giving himself up to get the run home.
Another big play was Erik Sabrowski’s wild pitch in the sixth which moved two Chicago runners into scoring position, and they scored on Braden Montgomery’s double to right. Sabrowski threw a bad pitch, but it was a fastball, and Patrick Bailey didn’t/couldn’t block it.
We know Bailey has won multiple Gold Gloves, but frankly, we don’t see why? Is it because of his pitch framing? We see a lot of balls get past him. Perhaps we are spoiled by catchers like Sandy Alomar Jr., Yan Gomes, and Roberto Perez, but we don’t see that kind of defensive prowess.
Lastly, only three runs scored in the two games for Cleveland. The Guardians had the worst offense of any team qualifying for the post-season, and the second worst, Boston, was eliminated in the wild card round. Conversely, four of the top five teams in scoring runs made the playoffs, and although the Cubs (1st) were knocked out, the Brewers, White Sox, and Dodgers are still alive.
It is difficult to go far without being able to produce runs no matter how good your pitching and defense is.
As for the Guardians, it’s not impossible to win three straight in the Division Series after losing the first two, but to go on the road makes it more difficult. Cleveland did have a better record on the road (44-37) than they did at Progressive Field (41-40) this season.
Perhaps there is an omen there.
