Cleveland- Beginning a 9-game homestand on Friday the Guardians hosted the Twins. Coming off a dismal road trip, Cleveland has now lost five consecutive series. The last series victory was April 14-16 in Washington. This streak of series losses is the most under skipper Terry Francona since he joined Cleveland.
Looking at the recent stretch of woes there are many areas in which the team is struggling. The offense is almost non existent. What is perhaps the most concerning are the pitching inconsistencies. The Guardians’ bullpen ranked in the top of the league last year, however, is now showing the signs of being mortal.
Peyton Battenfield was on the hill for Cleveland making his fourth career start. The 25-year old replaced what was slated to be Zach Plesac’s start on Friday. Plesac was optioned to Triple-A Columbus on Thursday. The rookie made it through the first five frames without giving up a hit. Twins Christian Vazquez singled to left field to break up the hitless outing for the Guardians hurler.
Things got worse from there when Max Kepler went yard making the score 2-0. The rookie was able to get out of the inning with Carlos Correa singling to centerfield. Despite giving up the long ball Battenfield kept his squad in the game. The offense just could not back him up. The 25-year old finished the outing going 7 innings allowing 2 hits on 2 runs and striking out a season/career high 7 batters.
The feeling that no lead was too large for the team to fight back from isn’t there. It is only the beginning of May, and I did write telling fans to relax recently yet watching the Guardians play baseball hasn’t felt fun in awhile.
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