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The Cleveland Guardians have largely played some really good baseball so far during the 2026 season, but their recent home stand with series losses at the hands of both the Washington Nationals and Boston Red Sox was not an example of that.
Essentially, looking at Cleveland’s series loss to the Red Sox highlights one key area the Guardians must improve. In fact, even Stephen Vogt highlighted that the team must be better, too.
The Guardians are better at extending their leads once they get them.
Looking at all three games against the Red Sox, the Guardians held a lead early in each of them.
Cleveland kicked off Friday’s game with a four-run first inning. Even though the Guardians did end up winning that game, they didn’t score a single run over the next eight innings, which forced Cleveland to dig deep into their bullpen early in the series.
Then, during Saturday’s contest, Cleveland scraped an early run off Sonny Gray in the first inning, thanks to back-to-back doubles by Travis Bazzana and Jose Ramirez. However, that was the only run Cleveland’s offense scored in its 9-1 loss.
It was a similar story during Sunday’s rubber match. The Red Sox struck first with a solo home run in the first inning, but Cleveland came back to take the lead in the second inning, and again in the fifth inning, to give Cleveland a 4-3 lead halfway through the game.
May 30, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Boston Red Sox third baseman Marcelo Mayer (11) throws to first base after a force out on Cleveland Guardians catcher Austin Hedges (27) at second base during the seventh inning at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Dermer-Imagn Images
However, Boston scored six unanswered runs after this, essentially sealing the deal on a series loss for the Guardians. (Cleveland was on the wrong end of a missed call that snowballed into many of those runs for the Red Sox, but as Vogt mentioned after the game, that wasn’t the reason the Guardians lost.)
After Friday’s game, Vogt acknowledged the problem the Guardians have faced this season.
“That's something we need to get better with," said Cleveland's skipper. "We need to be better. We need to extend leads.”
A silver lining in all of this is that the Guardians are still getting runners on base; they just haven’t been able to find a way to get them in.
Cleveland left 23 runners on base throughout the season and hit .266 (4-for-15) with runners in scoring position over the final two games of the series. That’s pretty much on par, and in some respects better, than the Guardians season stats in this same situation: Cleveland is hitting .229/.323/.356 with RISP so far in 2026.
It’s evident what the issue is for the Guardians. The question is, how will they fix it?
Guardians Roundtable also offers a fan community and message board. We’d love to have you join us to talk all things Guardians. Click the “Join” button at the top of the page to join our community for free.
Continue reading...
Essentially, looking at Cleveland’s series loss to the Red Sox highlights one key area the Guardians must improve. In fact, even Stephen Vogt highlighted that the team must be better, too.
The Guardians are better at extending their leads once they get them.
Looking at all three games against the Red Sox, the Guardians held a lead early in each of them.
Cleveland kicked off Friday’s game with a four-run first inning. Even though the Guardians did end up winning that game, they didn’t score a single run over the next eight innings, which forced Cleveland to dig deep into their bullpen early in the series.
Then, during Saturday’s contest, Cleveland scraped an early run off Sonny Gray in the first inning, thanks to back-to-back doubles by Travis Bazzana and Jose Ramirez. However, that was the only run Cleveland’s offense scored in its 9-1 loss.
It was a similar story during Sunday’s rubber match. The Red Sox struck first with a solo home run in the first inning, but Cleveland came back to take the lead in the second inning, and again in the fifth inning, to give Cleveland a 4-3 lead halfway through the game.
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May 30, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Boston Red Sox third baseman Marcelo Mayer (11) throws to first base after a force out on Cleveland Guardians catcher Austin Hedges (27) at second base during the seventh inning at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Dermer-Imagn Images
However, Boston scored six unanswered runs after this, essentially sealing the deal on a series loss for the Guardians. (Cleveland was on the wrong end of a missed call that snowballed into many of those runs for the Red Sox, but as Vogt mentioned after the game, that wasn’t the reason the Guardians lost.)
After Friday’s game, Vogt acknowledged the problem the Guardians have faced this season.
“That's something we need to get better with," said Cleveland's skipper. "We need to be better. We need to extend leads.”
A silver lining in all of this is that the Guardians are still getting runners on base; they just haven’t been able to find a way to get them in.
Cleveland left 23 runners on base throughout the season and hit .266 (4-for-15) with runners in scoring position over the final two games of the series. That’s pretty much on par, and in some respects better, than the Guardians season stats in this same situation: Cleveland is hitting .229/.323/.356 with RISP so far in 2026.
It’s evident what the issue is for the Guardians. The question is, how will they fix it?
Guardians Roundtable also offers a fan community and message board. We’d love to have you join us to talk all things Guardians. Click the “Join” button at the top of the page to join our community for free.
Continue reading...
