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The Cleveland Guardians were unable to snap their brutal slump Friday as the team lost to the Detroit Tigers, 2-1. The defeat extended the Guardians’ losing streak to eight straight games as Cleveland continued to spiral. The lost season has even led to Emmanuel Clase trade rumors as the deadline nears.
But despite the Guardians’ persistent offensive struggles, manager Stephen Vogt isn’t panicking. “Our at-bats have been great. We had traffic all night. We just didn't come through with the big hit,” Vogt said of the Guardians’ most recent loss, per The News-Herald’s Jeff Schudel.
“Obviously our guys are working. We’re having good at-bats, we’re putting balls in play hard. We’re hitting a lot of balls hard with nothing to show for it as well. So, we’re going to continue to work, continue to push. Relax in those big situations and get your pitch to hit,” Vogt added.
The Guardians’ offense continued to struggle in eighth-straight loss
Unfortunately for Cleveland, that pitch to hit hasn’t been there. And when it has been, the Guardians swung through it.
During the team’s eight-game losing streak, the Guardians have been shut out four times. They’ve been held to two or fewer runs six times. And Cleveland has been outscored 40-13 in the eight-game skid.
Offensive leader Jose Ramirez has been stuck in a nasty slump. The six-time All-Star had gone hitless in his last six games entering Friday. He was 0-21 during the Guardians’ slide before hitting a solo home run against Detroit. He later added a single, offering some hope for a turnaround.
Ramirez got off to a historic start for Cleveland but he’s fallen off of late. In his last 15 games entering Friday, Ramirez slashed .155/.210/.172 with no home runs, four RBI and no runs scored.
The Guardians were out hit 57-27 over the first six games of the losing streak. However, Vogt may be onto something about the team putting together good at-bats as Cleveland has out hit its opponents over the last two games, 16-10.
Still, the Guardians are having trouble scoring runs. They’ve now lost 19 of their last 26 games. In that span they went from 6.5 games behind Tigers in the AL Central to 13.5 games back.
On June 4 the Guardians were six games above .500 and had a one-game lead over the Seattle Mariners for the second Wild Card spot. A month later and Cleveland is six games under .500 and five games back in the Wild Card standings.
