Takeaways From Cleveland Guardians Series Loss To Diamondbacks

The Cleveland Guardians’ three-game set against the Arizona Diamondbacks was a pivotal series for them to keep up in the American League playoff race. The Guardians gave themselves plenty of opportunities, but they ended up dropping the final two games and losing the series.

Here are three takeaways from this rough series loss for Cleveland.

Cleveland Couldn’t Capitalize on Opportunities

The Guardians had plenty of opportunities to score, but they just couldn’t capitalize on them, and that’s really what was the difference maker in this series loss.

Over the three games, Cleveland hit .150 (3-for-20) with runners in scoring position, including going 0-for-10 in the series finale and leaving seven on base. 

The Guardians had done an incredible job of getting the clutch hit in the final weeks of July and the first half of August, but over the last two series, that has vanished. 

Top Of The Guardians’ Lineup Struggles

A surprising theme that emerged not only against the Diamondbacks, but also last week against the Atlanta Braves, was the offensive struggles from the top of the lineup.

Steven Kwan only recorded two hits (2-for-13) in Cleveland’s series in the desert. Jose Ramirez did hit a home run, but that was just one of three hits in the series, and Kyle Manzardo seemingly cooled off just as quickly as he heated up, not reaching base once against the Diamondbacks.

If the Guardians want to make a last-second playoff push heading into September, this trio must start to pick it up again.