Guardians' challenge woes sting, but 'that's not why we lost'

CLEVELAND -- Catcher Austin Hedges’ body language perfectly captured the Guardians' agony and frustration of the moment. Rather than Cleveland escaping a bases-loaded, two-out jam with a strikeout, the full-count offering from Tim Herrin to Boston’s Wilyer Abreu was called ball four.

Herrin’s four-seam fastball to Abreu appeared to catch the outside corner, and Hedges stood up after catching the pitch, ready to jog back to the Guardians’ dugout. When the strike-three call was not made, he raised his arms and hung his head.

The frustration was two-fold. One, Herrin’s walk forced in the game-tying run. Two, the Guardians had previously lost both of their ABS challenges on unsuccessful overtures by Stuart Fairchild and José Ramírez, and could not ask for a review in that spot.

That moment gave way to a six-run inning for Boston, as the Guardians fell, 9-4, in the rubber match of a three-game series to finish with a 2-4 record on their six-game homestand.

“It’s frustrating, but that's on us,” Hedges said. “We shouldn't have lost our challenges. It's what they're there for, and we’ve got to take accountability and be better at it.”

With the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth, Fairchild unsuccessfully challenged a 3-2 curveball from Ranger Suarez that was called strike three. With Hedges on first and two outs in the sixth, Ramírez challenged a 1-1 four-seam fastball at the bottom of the zone from Jovani Morán. The called strike was upheld. Ramírez grounded out to third base moments later.

The inability to challenge Herrin’s pitch alone was not why the Guardians lost on Sunday. Cleveland left 10 runners on base, and the Red Sox sent 10 batters to the plate during their rally in the seventh. But it loomed large, and Cleveland's lack of success using ABS is not new.

The Guardians’ hitters entered Sunday ranked 27th in the Majors with a 38 percent overturn rate. Cleveland has continually stressed the sheer number of correct calls is more important to them than the overall percentage, which can be skewed in a smaller sample.

The Guardians entered Sunday tied for 17th in MLB with 25 correct challenges (on 66 attempts). Fairchild went 3-for-8 in challenges this season with Triple-A Columbus before the Guardians selected his contract on Friday. Ramírez is now 0-for-3 this year.

Hedges noted that, in his experience, ABS is tougher as a hitter than a catcher, as he knows what pitch to be ready for as the latter. It’s clear this is a continued learning process as players get more reps with this system.

“It's just knowing the zone in every aspect, specifically for catchers and hitters,” Hedges said. “It's just learning the zone, learning the height of hitters. Obviously, the in and out is always gonna be the same, but just getting the reps in. Just keep playing games with it, keep taking chances, and I'm sure we’ll get better.”

The Guardians have had a bit more success using ABS defensively, which they put exclusively in the hands of their catchers. They entered Sunday ranked 22nd in MLB with a 52 percent overturn rate. They were tied for 19th with 34 correct challenges.

“We're training it,” manager Stephen Vogt said. “It happens so quickly, and I feel like we've had some games where we should have used more [challenges]. We’ve had games where we've had some bad ones.

“A day like today, you wish you had one, but you don't. … That's not why we lost today.”

The Guardians went 3-for-8 with runners in scoring position Sunday. They loaded the bases to open the second inning, but a Hedges two-run single was all they delivered. Cleveland scored twice in the fifth, but had a chance for more after Suarez later issued a two-out walk to David Fry to load the bases. Kyle Manzardo and Fairchild each struck out.

Starter Tanner Bibee was in position to pick up his first win of the season after he allowed three runs on six hits and one walk over six innings. In the seventh inning, Colin Holderman, Herrin and Codi Heuer were charged with six runs on four hits and three walks.

Bibee, who is 0-7 after Sunday's no-decision, to become the first pitcher in Cleveland franchise history to go winless in his first 13 starts of a season. It was a tough-luck finish from what has been a trusty Guardians bullpen -- which entered Sunday sixth in MLB with a 2.84 ERA this month.

“When you give free bases to a Major League team, they're going to make you pay,” Vogt said. “Credit to them, they did, but the bullpen has been outstanding. I'm not going to let one inning sway how we feel about the way the bullpen has been throwing.”