CLEVELAND, Ohio — All together now: It’s only one game.
Guardians fans know that in their heads, but it doesn’t stop their hearts from pounding a little harder.
That’s because watching the Guardians rise from the baseball dead to come oh-so-close to a historic comeback to make the playoffs …
The natural reaction after the Guardians lost to Detroit 4-2 Thursday night is to wonder, “Is the magic gone?”
No, it was only one game. Remember that. Cleveland’s magic number to win the Central Division remains 3.
The loss for Cleveland was just that – one game, one loss.
The win for Detroit ended an eight-game losing streak. The Tigers have won only two of their last 13 games, the Guardians have won 11 of 13.
After the Tigers lost 5-1 Wednesday, manager A.J. Hinch said, “I’m having a hard time coming up with words. Honestly, I know that it (how the Tigers were playing) is not always that acceptable or the norm. What I’m seeing out of our team is not normal. Unfortunately, it’s our reality.”
But reality can change as it did for Detroit Thursday – at least for one night.
Take a deep breath
Losing to Detroit only means the Guardians and Tigers are tied for the Central Division lead. Both have 86-73 records, although Cleveland owns the tiebreaker if they end the season with identical records.
Sometimes, a team is just due.
At some point, the Tigers were going to growl. That’s what they did in the first inning when Jahmai Jones led off with a homer. Wenceel Perez also homered off rookie Cleveland starter Parker Messick.
The lefty gave up four runs in five innings.
It wasn’t a great start. You can say that eventually was going to happen to Cleveland.
In the previous 19 games, the Guardians’ starting pitchers had allowed two or fewer runs. That tied Tampa Bay (2019) for the modern-day MLB record.
As former Orioles manager Earl Weaver often said, “This ain’t the NFL, we do this every day.”
And every team has bad days during a six-month, 162-game season.
That’s the best way to view Thursday night.
Three games left
Texas comes to town for the final three games of the regular season.
You can say the Guardians will be feeling what amounts to playoff pressure.
That’s true.
But that’s been life for the Guardians for at least the last month.
Exactly a month ago (Aug. 25, 2025) from the start of Thursday’s game, Cleveland was 12 1/2 games behind the Tigers in the Central Division.
This weekend should not be an other-worldly experience for Cleveland because critical/crucial games have been their world.
“We need to win,” said Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt. “Our goal is to win each series. We won a series. We played great. We focus on what we can control, how we play tomorrow.”
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