Series Review: Despite Cleveland heatwave, Guardians go cold against Twins

The Cleveland Guardians can’t warm up the bats against the Minnesota Twins

The Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Guardians are looking like the top dogs in the AL Central so close series is going to be a regular for these two clubs. The Guardians are still one of the best offenses in the league, but they have to have the pitching to match it.

If they did, the Guards would have secured the series win at the very least. You’re going to have some games where guys put up bad outings. It’s baseball, it happens, but you don’t expect two pitchers to give up nine runs in one inning. That’s unacceptable, especially when your offense does everything to battle back.

Not having Josh Naylor isn’t going to help matters either. He’s easily one of the better hitters the club has (thanks San Diego) and not having him in the lineup exposes Jose Ramirez too much. The heart of the order is Ramirez, Naylor, and Owen Miller, and messing with that causes too much upheaval.

The Guardians are now 16-17 on the season, with a mood uplifter coming in the form of the Cinncinati Reds. In fact, their next nine series are against losing teams, save for two; the Rockies, who are .500 at best, and the Astros.

The Guards have two games against the Reds, then three at home against the Tigers, then three away in Houston, three more in Detroit against the Tigers, then at home against the Royals, then away against the Baltimore Orioles, then at home against Texas and Oakland, and then away at the Rockies.

That’s 28 games, and realistically the Guardians should win at least 20 of them. So this is going to be a key stretch for the Guards. If they can win all or most of these series, then they’ll be right there in the playoff picture.

If they struggle, then, well, that’ll be it for any realistic playoff chase.

Guardians and Twins Series Recap

Game 1 – Twins Win (12-8)

One ugly inning doomed the Guardians, allowing nine earned runs between Aaron Civale and Bryan Shaw. Civale gave up six during the game in total. The Guardians put up eight runs and in any standard game, that’s an easy number to win with. Hard to remember the game was a 2-2 tie before the bottom of the fifth. The Guards battled back with six more RBI to close the gap.

Game 2 – Guardians Win (3-2)

Shane Bieber looked good, though he still is giving up too many hits per game. Steven Kwan led all Guards hitters with two, while Myles Straw, Franmil Reyes, and Andres Gimenez were your key contributors in the 3-2 win in extra innings.

Game 3 – Twins Win (3-1)

The offense fell off completely, with Owen Miller, Franmil Reyes, and Andres Gimenez each registering two strikeouts apiece, making up two-thirds of the nine total team strikeouts. The Guardians can’t afford to have Miller and Gimenez matching Reyes’ level of strikeouts if they want to survive.

Series Standouts

Jose Ramirez

3-13, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 runs

Andres Gimenez

3-11, 3 RBI, 3 Runs, 3 Walks

Shane Bieber

6.0, 7 Ks, 7 hits, 1 ER

Emmanuel Clase

1.0, 1 hit, 1 strikeout