CLEVELAND — Coming off their five-game battle in the American League Division Series last fall, the Guardians and Tigers did not renew pleasantries with one another until Memorial Day weekend this season. Cleveland left Comerica Park with a four-game series win over its division rival.
It’s been a precipitous slide for Cleveland since, while Detroit has continued to distance itself from the rest of the AL Central. Those alternating paths converged on Friday at Progressive Field, in front of a sellout crowd of 38,213.
The Guardians dropped the series opener, 2-1, to the Tigers, marking their eighth consecutive loss. Not only is that Cleveland’s longest losing streak this season, but also its longest in nearly four years. The Guardians lost nine straight in 2021 from June 30 (Game 1 of a doubleheader) to July 7 (Game 2).
When the Guardians beat the Tigers, 7-5 in 10 innings, on May 24, they reached seven games over .500 (29-22) and were only three games back of Detroit for first in the AL Central. Since then, the Guardians have gone 11-24 to fall to 13 1/2 games behind the Tigers and five games back of the AL’s final Wild Card spot.
A consistent scene has played out over the past month, including on Friday: Cleveland got a strong outing from its starter, Slade Cecconi, but not nearly enough production from an offense that has been scuffling.
Over six innings, Cecconi allowed six hits and two runs, which came on a pair of solo home runs by Wenceel Pérez in the third and Zach McKinstry in the fourth. He threw a career-high 105 pitches and retired the final eight batters he faced.
“I love where Slade’s at,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “The last couple of innings, his stuff started to dip down a little bit, but then he found another gear. That’s the first time we’ve really seen him do that. It just seems like Slade, each and every time out, is improving, improving, improving. He was absolutely outstanding tonight.”
The Guardians offense scored one run on nine hits and three walks. José Ramírez hit a solo homer in the first inning, and it looked as if another run could come across in the second. Bo Naylor hit a one-out double off Tigers starter Reese Olson, and he attempted to score from second when Angel Martínez immediately followed with a base hit to right field.
Naylor was thrown out at the plate by Pérez on a bang-bang play. His hand appeared to sneak in before catcher Dillon Dingler’s tag, at least from some angles. The out call was upheld after the Guardians challenged.
“Judging from the replays that we saw, it looked like his hand got in there before the glove touched him,” Vogt said. “But the angle that they showed on the board was probably not conclusive enough. We have so many camera angles and we don’t see all the ones they have. More often than not, those [types of] calls stand and it’s really frustrating.”
The Guardians’ offensive issues have been much-discussed and well-documented over the past month. They averaged 2.88 runs per game in June. They scored six times in a three-game sweep by the Cubs at Wrigley Field this week.
We are seemingly closing in on Chase DeLauter’s promotion from Triple-A Columbus to the big leagues, which could provide an offensive boost. DeLauter (Cleveland’s No. 2 prospect, No. 35 overall) extended his on-base streak to 30 games with the Clippers on Friday — i.e. every game he’s played for Columbus.
Of course, whenever DeLauter gets to Cleveland, it will be unfair to expect him to singlehandedly change the Guardians’ fortunes. To turn things around, it will require contributions from the collective group.
Friday’s game went final when Kyle Manzardo grounded out on a comebacker to Tigers reliever Will Vest. A number of folks then lingered in the Guardians’ dugout and observed as the Tigers hit the field to begin exchanging handshakes.
“I think you see guys staying around and watching that because it should sting. It should hurt,” Cecconi said. “If you feel that pain and know how to channel it, it can lead to great things. I’m really looking forward to the end of the season when we look back at this eight-game skid and go, ‘Man, remember how tough that was? Remember how we got through it?
“‘Remember how we trusted each other? Remember we showed up the same every day and just kept working?’ It’s going to pay off. We’re going to see ourselves in a great spot at the end of the season. And I fully believe that.”
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