CLEVELAND -- Logan Allen delivered a four-seam fastball to Spencer Torkelson in the third inning on Saturday, a 91.1 mph offering that painted the outside edge of the plate. Torkelson muscled it out to right field and just got it over the wall for a solo homer.
That blast accounted for the only run scored Saturday night at Progressive Field. It was all the Tigers needed to beat the Guardians 1-0, as Cleveland’s offense remained stuck in the doldrums that have plagued them for a month now.
Cleveland has now lost nine straight games for the first time since also dropping nine in a row from June 30 to July 7, 2021. Their last skid that was longer than nine games was an 11-gamer, from July 27-Aug. 7, 2012.
"We got some stuff going. We just weren't able to get that hit,” manager Stephen Vogt said. “I thought our guys battled all night and put ourselves into a ton of positions to get some runs. Just unfortunately weren't able to come through.”
That has been a consistent theme for the Guardians for an extended stretch now, not just on Saturday, but also over the course of their losing streak.
Entering Saturday, with runners in scoring position, Cleveland has been hitting:
• .197 since June (last in the Majors).
• .170 (8-for-47) over the past eight games.
• .074 (2-for-27) over their past five games.
After going 1-for-6 with RISP on Friday, the Guardians went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position on Saturday and left six men on base. Tigers starter Casey Mize held them to four hits (two doubles and two singles) and two walks over seven innings.
Saturday’s loss marked the fifth time over the nine-game losing streak that the Guardians have been shut out. They have scored 13 runs over this stretch, and have only scored in six out of their 82 innings played.
“Every player is aware of how they're doing, and the team is very aware of how we're doing,” Vogt said. “Our mindset and our attitude is still in the right place. … We have to bring that positive mindset every day, and our guys do that.
“... We know where we are. We know that we haven't won a game in a while, but we bring that same energy and that same mindset every day, because that's the game of baseball. It's 162 games. It's long. You have to stay consistent. You have to keep telling yourself that you're good and we're going to win.
“There's never going to be a downward spiral of our mindset or attitude. This group is way too strong to do that.”
Cleveland got a couple of tough breaks in a few chances it had offensively. After Angel Martínez hit a one-out single in the fifth, Bo Naylor hit a 99.4 mph smash that knocked Torkelson’s glove off at first base. It deflected to second baseman Javy Báez, who retired Martínez with a forceout at second. Johnathan Rodríguez followed by grounding into an inning-ending fielder’s choice.
If you want to go back to Friday, Naylor was thrown out at the plate trying to score from second on a single by Martínez. It looked like his hand got in safely from some angles, but the call stood after the Guardians challenged. They lost 2-1.
“It just seems that every bounce is not going our way,” Vogt said. “We can allow that to be an excuse. Or we can just say, ‘Hey, we're going through it. Show up tomorrow. We'll get the bounce tomorrow.’ We have to make our own bounces, and our guys are working towards that.”
Of course, when things aren’t going well, and when you’re not scoring, every moment looms that much larger. Ultimately, you have to score runs to win, and Cleveland has been struggling in that department for an extended stretch.
Allen only allowed one run on two hits and two walks with five strikeouts over six innings. Cade Smith threw a 1-2-3 seventh, and Paul Sewald followed with a 1-2-3 eighth. Tim Herrin escaped a one-out bases-loaded jam in the ninth by getting Torkelson to ground into a double play.
"Obviously, we're not swinging the bats the way we want to,” Allen said. “We're gonna come back. They're gonna support us the way that we’re trying to pick them up a little bit.”