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 Couldnt Capitalize on Opportunities The Guardians had plenty of opportunities to score, but they just couldnt capitalize on them, and thats 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 Clevelands 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.

Bright Spots In Clevelands Rotation It wasnt all negative for the Guardians in this series.

Gavin Williams took the ball in the first game and proved why hes Cleveland's ace right now.

The right-hander got into some long at-bats, which saw his pitch count rise early, but he still found a way to limit the damage.

Williams only gave up four hits, didnt allow a run, and struck out five batters.

He may not have pitched as long as he wouldve liked, but it was still a solid outing.

Then, in the series finale, Parker Messick took the ball for his MLB debut and couldnt have put together a better outing.

In this start, he became the first Cleveland pitcher to throw 6.2 or more innings while recording one or no walks and striking out six or more hitters in their MLB debut.

Each pitcher showed something positive they can build on for their next appearance.

Read More Cleveland Guardians Coverage MORE: First Impressions From Parker Messick's Guardians, MLB Debut MORE: What To Expect From Parker Messick In Guardians, MLB Debut MORE: Here Are The Guardians' Options To Fill Current Rotation Vacancy MORE: Guardians' Travis Bazzana Receives Impressive Prospect Ranking MORE: Why Guardians Upcoming Series vs.

Diamondbacks Is So Pivotal.

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