Guardians' Offense Frozen In Game Two Loss And Double Header Sweep

One day after the series opener was postponed due to inclement weather, the Cleveland Guardians' offense stalled at frigid Comerica Park in the afternoon sweep at the hands of the Detroit Tigers. The Guardians lost game one, 4-3, on a walk off home run, and in game two was fell 1-0 with the only offense coming from Riley Greene's solo home run in the sixth inning. The Guardians were scoreless in 17 of the 18 innings across today's double header, and did not cross the plate again after scoring all three runs in the fourth inning of game one.

The Guardians' best chance to score arrived in the eighth inning. Oscar Gonzalez hit a lead off single, and reached second on Andres Gimenez's sacrifice bunt. After Gabrial Arias struck out, pinch-hitter Steven Kwan nearly drove in Gonzalez on a grounder up the middle, but second baseman Spencer Torkelson dived to stop it from reaching the outfield and threw out Kwan at first to end the threat. Highlighting the limited offense in game two, only two other runners were left on base.

Eduardo Rodriguez was triumphant in victory as he struck out 10 batters and allowed four hits. Peyton Battenfield allowed the game's only run in defeat, but struck out five batters. This pitching duel largely accounted for the game duration as well. Clocking in a one hour and 50 minutes, this has been MLB's shortest game so far in 2023.

The Guardians won last year's season series against the Tigers, 10-9, but was 4-6 at Comerica Park. These teams will square off tomorrow at 1:10 for the series finale, featuring starting pitchers Cal Qunatril (0-1, 5.74 ERA) for the Guardians, and Spencer Turnbull (1-2, 9.00 ERA) for the Tigers. Regardless of tomorrow's outcome this will be the Guardians' first series defeat after entering with a 7-3 road record across their first three series (against the Mariners, Athletics, and Nationals).