CLEVELAND — The Guardians have one path back into this series, and it is not complicated.
They have to start hitting.
Cleveland heads to Chicago down 0-2 in the American League Division Series after scoring only three runs on seven hits through the first two games. The Guardians were shut out, 3-0, in Game 1 and managed only four hits in Monday’s 4-3 loss despite finally getting on the scoreboard. That simply is not enough offense to win in October.
The frustrating part is that Cleveland’s pitching has given the team opportunities to stay in both games. Parker Messick kept the Guardians within reach in Game 1, and Gavin Williams was excellent Monday, striking out 11 while allowing four hits over five innings.
The offense, however, has not held up its end.
Cleveland left seven runners on base in Game 1 and went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position. Monday started better when Steven Kwan and José Ramírez scored in the first inning, but the Guardians produced almost nothing after that until Jo Adell’s RBI triple in the eighth.
Through two games, Chicago has not needed to overwhelm Cleveland offensively because the Guardians have given their pitching staff almost no margin for error.
Williams handed the bullpen a 2-1 lead in the sixth inning, but the White Sox scored three times to go ahead 4-2. Cleveland eventually pulled within one, but by then every missed opportunity from the previous seven innings had become magnified.
That is what happens when an offense goes quiet in October. One bad inning from the bullpen becomes enough to lose the game, and one missed opportunity with runners on base can decide an entire season.
Chicago deserves credit for the way it has pitched. The White Sox have used multiple arms and different looks throughout the series, and Cleveland has struggled to settle in against any of them. Sean Burke was particularly effective Monday, allowing only one hit and one run over 5 1/3 innings after entering in relief.
But Cleveland is out of time.
The Guardians won the American League Central and earned a first-round bye because they were good enough over 162 games to put themselves in this position. Now they have to show that offense again with their season on the line.
José Ramírez, Steven Kwan, Chase DeLauter, Jo Adell, Nathaniel Lowe, and the rest of the lineup do not need to suddenly become an offensive juggernaut. Cleveland does not need eight or nine runs Wednesday. But, it does need more consistent pressure.
That means getting runners on base, putting together better at-bats with men in scoring position, and forcing Chicago’s pitchers to work from the stretch instead of cruising through innings with little resistance.
Chicago has won all four of its postseason games and needs one more victory to advance to the American League Championship Series. Cleveland needs three straight wins to keep its season alive.
The first one has to come Wednesday.
And if the Guardians are going to get it, the bats finally have to show up.
