CLEVELAND -- The Guardians’ bullpen situation is more convoluted than simply recognizing that it hasn’t been as strong in the second half of the season as it was in the first. And Cleveland’s 8-5 loss in 10 innings to Philadelphia at Progressive Field on Sunday afternoon made things even trickier.

The Guardians had a handful of defensive miscues and missed opportunities at the plate. One of the Phillies’ runs was scored on a balk, while another was scored on a strange ground ball to first base that Josh Bell thought was foul.

Therefore, Bell didn’t properly execute a play at the plate to prevent a run from scoring. But the biggest problem Cleveland faced was that it emptied its bullpen and there’s no off-day in sight, as it doesn't get a respite until Aug. 3, with 10 more games until then.

The Guardians decided that Sunday would be a bullpen game. It’s the second time that Cleveland chose to deploy a handful of relievers to replace Shane Bieber’s usual day in the rotation. Xzavion Curry ran into some trouble in the first inning, allowing a run on a balk, but he settled in to work two more strong frames. But after throwing 42 pitches (22 strikes), his day was done after three frames.

“[We're] just trying to keep [Curry] to a point where we don’t lose him for four days,” Guardians manager Terry Francona said. “That’s the idea when we stopped him when we did.”

Guardians pitching coach Carl Willis addressed various topics before the game on Sunday -- one of which was the plan for Curry with the vacancy in the rotation. He explained that the team’s preference is to keep Curry as a relief option instead of having him stretch out as a starter.

“You don’t want to fix something that’s not broken,” Willis said.

But the Guardians are going to have to figure out how to plan out this situation both in the short and long term, regardless of who’s the best answer.

When it comes to the near future, the Guardians have to figure out how they’ll get through the next 10 days without a break. Curry will be down for a day or two. Then Michael Kelly, Sam Hentges, Nick Sandlin, Eli Morgan, Enyel De Los Santos, Tim Herrin and Trevor Stephan pitched after him, leaving Emmanuel Clase -- who worked Friday’s and Saturday’s games -- as the only unused arm.

Kelly, Hentges, Sandlin, Herrin and Stephan all threw at least 20 pitches. None of them have pitched back-to-back days after throwing at least 20 pitches so far this season. De Los Santos has now pitched in two consecutive games.

Morgan would likely be available on Monday as well as Clase. The Guardians tried to stay away from Stephan on Sunday to keep him fresh, but after Herrin struggled in his second frame, they had no other choice. Stephan threw 20 pitches, but he’s been sent back to the rubber on consecutive days with higher pitch counts this season.

In a bind, the Guardians could use Stephan in the first couple games against the Royals. But the team will need more reinforcements, which prompts the question: Is James Karinchak ready for a promotion from Triple-A Columbus to get a fresh arm to the Major League bullpen?

• Karinchak working his way back to Guardians

“I think [Karinchak's] certainly to a point where -- when we have a need -- [he could come up],” Willis said before Sunday's game. "The results of late have been good. We’ve seen a little bit of pull back in velocity, a little bit of stuff, not quite where it was.

"But at the same time, in terms of results he’s getting, [he has] a little better feel for the strike zone. He’s getting in a much better place.”

Maybe Karinchak is the next arm up, assuming the Guardians will make at least one call on Monday to help replenish the ‘pen. But that still doesn’t answer all of their questions.

When it comes to the long-term outlook, the team will need to figure out how it will replace Bieber in the rotation. Cal Quantrill is making progress, but the Guardians don’t want to rush him back off the injured list like he was last time. Maybe Peyton Battenfield could be a temporary fill-in, but that means more young arms getting more innings.

This all leads to how the Guardians may need to approach the Trade Deadline. With Quantrill, Bieber and Triston McKenzie on the injured list, it may be hard to keep overusing the bullpen like they’ve had to do thus far.

“That’s depleted our depth a little bit,” Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said earlier this week, “so that’s something we’ll have to be cognizant of as we approach the next couple weeks.”