CLEVELAND -- The situation was playing out exactly as the Guardians hoped in the eighth inning on Sunday, when they trailed the Twins by one run but were beginning to rally. After a Steven Kwan sacrifice bunt, Cleveland had the tying run at third base and the go-ahead run at second.
There was traffic on the bases, and the Guardians just needed one big hit. As we saw on a number of occasions the past two days, it was just out of their reach.
The Guardians lost, 5-4, to the Twins on Sunday in the rubber match of a three-game series in which Cleveland had a steady stream of opportunities, but came up short with runners in scoring position. In Sunday’s series finale, the Guardians went 3-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left 12 men on base.
“Everybody wants to get the job done,” said bench coach Tony Arnerich, who was the Guardians’ acting manager on Sunday with Stephen Vogt under the weather. “It comes back down to getting a good pitch to hit and putting a good swing on it.
“We had our chances the last two days and we just weren't able to cash in on them.”
The Guardians are now 3-6 in one-run games this season. This weekend marked their first series loss to the Twins since Sept. 4-6, 2023, and their first series loss to an AL Central opponent since July 26-27 this past season, snapping a streak of 10 straight in which they earned a win or split.
Saturday’s 2-1 loss in 11 innings was perhaps the most frustrating defeat this weekend. The offense went 1-for-15 with RISP and left 13 men on base. Meanwhile, the Twins tallied only two hits: Byron Buxton hit a leadoff home run and an RBI double in the top of the 11th inning.
Hitting with runners in scoring position is a fickle and cyclical thing. For what it’s worth, the Guardians have been fine in that department recently. They entered Sunday with a .740 OPS in those spots this month, which ranked 14th in MLB.
The Guardians didn't cash in on a chance in the fourth inning Sunday, though it came when there were already two outs after Brayan Rocchio (who went 4-for-4 with a new career high in hits) doubled. Kwan struck out looking.
The Guardians got on the board in the third after Rocchio and DeLauter each singled, and José Ramírez drove in Rocchio with a one-out RBI single. That was the extent of the damage, though Angel Martínez flied out to the warning track in left-center field with the bases loaded. The drive had a 100.7 mph exit velocity.
“It's tough. It's part of a long season, 162 games, right?” catcher David Fry said of the RISP opportunities this weekend. “You're going to have stretches where it seems like you're always coming through, and times where it feels like it's really hard to get that runner in.
“The last two days were kind of like that, but again, that's part of it. The pitching staff has kept us in all these games, and I have no doubt we'll get the job done as the season goes on.”
Fry and Rocchio opened the eighth inning with consecutive base hits. Arnerich said the call for Kwan to bunt came from the dugout, noting his proficiency for squaring around as well as Chase DeLauter and Ramírez due up after.
DeLauter entered the day with a 10.8 percent strikeout rate (95th percentile in MLB) and hit .393 with a 1.032 OPS over his previous 15 games. Ramírez has had a slow start this season for his standard, but he’s still José Ramírez. The Guardians took their chance with those guys.
DeLauter drove in a run on a groundout to second. Ramírez walked and stole second, before Hoskins grounded out to third.
“[Kwan] did a good job with that,” Arnerich said of the bunt. “I would take our chances with DeLauter and Hosey coming up any day of the week, and Chase got the one run in. We just weren't able to capitalize with that one big hit.”
If the Guardians can take solace in one thing, it’s the constant opportunities they gave themselves to score this weekend. They trust the hits will often follow.
“That's part of our identity as an offense,” Fry said. “Like, ‘Hey, we touch first,’ whether it's a hit, walk, however. We find a way on and we trust our guys to get the job done. I have no doubt that we'll continue to do that.”