Monday saw the Cleveland Guardians fall behind early in what would be a 6-0 loss to the Colorado Rockies, and Tuesday night fared nearly the same - in manner, and in score.
The Guardians lost to their Mountain West counterparts, 5-1, in a showdown that saw Cleveland fall behind two pitches into Peyton Battenfield’s third start of the season. Charlie Blackmon’s leadoff home run teed off Battenfield’s five-inning outing, which yielded the right-hander his second loss of the season.
“”He didn’t have his command from the get-go,” Guardians manager Terry Francona said after the game. “Stuff was flat. Flatter than we’ve seen. A lot of deep counts…It was just hard for him to settle in. The good part was he stayed out there, because it didn’t look like he was going to last very long. That could have made a difficult night, worse.”
Battenfield totaled 66 pitches through the first three innings, but settled down to retire six of his final eight hitters, including striking out the side in the fourth inning.
“I feel like I found my groove for one inning,” said Battenfield. “Just wasn’t commanding the ball very well tonight.”
‘Rocky’ Start For Cleveland Offense - Though Battenfield fought valiantly to put a lid on the Rockies’ early offensive output, the Guardians struggled to string together scores for the second consecutive game. Cleveland managed six hits for the contest but was 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position, and were held to just one hit by the Colorado bullpen after Rockies starter Ryan Feltner (6.0 innings, five hits, six strikeouts) exited the game.
When asked about the club’s scoring woes after the game, Francona explained it as “a combination of things. Seeing some good pitching, you’re not feeling good at the plate. Collectively, we’ve been kind of in it together.
“The only thing I know,” Francona added, “You’ve got to battle, because no one’s going to feel sorry for us. We can’t let us do that either, because that doesn’t help.”
One of the Guardians who managed a hit on a double to left field was Mike Zunino, who spoke after the game on the team's pressing for more offense.
“As a whole, guys are trying to do too much to pick one another up, and it’s sort of slowed us down a little bit. It’s the beautiful thing about playing 162 [games]. It’s one of those things where we’ll work these out. Guys are continuing to work. It doesn’t take much to get it going, and once it does, it’s usually contagious. We’re just going to keep grinding and trying to have good at-bats, and hopefully those pick up more frequently here.”
Falling Behind Fast (and at Home) - Of the seven losses over their previous nine games, the Guardians have fallen behind in five of those contests by the second inning or earlier - with four of those defeats beginning with a first-inning lead for Cleveland opponents.
Blackmon’s leadoff home run (the 40th for the four-time All-Star’s career), as well as an RBI double in the following inning, kicked off a four-run stretch for the Rockies over the first two frames. Colorado - who had lost 11 of their previous 12 contests going into the series with Cleveland - has posted an 11-1 scoring advantage in the last two games, and won consecutive contests for just the third time this season.
The Guardians also dropped their record at Progressive Field this season to 3-8, including a 1-4 stretch in the recent homestand.
Major League Bibee? - As the Guardians go for their Wednesday series finale against the Rockies without an official starting pitcher, one arm that could join the club is right-handed pitching prospect Tanner Bibee.
Bibee, 24, was scratched from his initial Tuesday start for Triple-A Columbus, which could allow him to join the club in a roster spot created via the Guardians’ weekend doubleheader against the Miami Marlins.
Bibee has posted a 1.76 ERA over 15.1 innings through his first three starts for Columbus this season.
Should the young pitcher get the call, he would face off against fellow right-hander Noah Davis, who sports a 0.93 ERA with only one earned run allowed over his first two starts of the campaign.
