Stephen Vogt Reacts To The Cleveland Guardians Being Swept By The Milwaukee Brewers

Stephen Vogt says the Cleveland Guardians "couldn't get the big hit" as they are swept by the Milwaukee Brewers.

Aug 17, 2024; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Cleveland Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez (11) breaks his bat while grounding out in the ninth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports / Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Guardians’ division lead is down to just 1.0 game after arguably their worst weekend of baseball of the season. The Minnesota Twins and Kansas City Royals each won their weekend series, while the Milwaukee Brewers swept the Guardians.

Needless to say, this was not how the Guardians envisioned this matchup going. 

This is what Stephen Vogt had to say after Sunday’s loss:

“They’re really good. When you’re throwing strikes you’re getting ahead, and you’re not missing anything out over the middle. You’re not going to give up too many hits or runs. We just couldn’t get any offense generated this weekend it felt like. You know, it’s just one of those things … We put ourselves in a position to win this series. We just weren’t able to get the big hit.”

Despite the results of today's game, Stephen Vogt thought Ben Lively pitched well in his outing today. #ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/5y2CKDmHhE

— Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) August 18, 2024

“Obviously there are some things we could be doing better offensively, but that’s the case with every night, every game in America. There’s always more you can do. But you’ve gotta tip your cap with the way they threw. They knew us, they scouted us, and they attacked our weaknesses and didn’t miss their spots. Good pitching will always beat good hitting.” 

Vogt does have a point. The Guardians lost by three runs on Friday, one run on Saturday, and two runs on Sunday. However, the final scores of each game paint a different picture of how the overall matchup felt. The pitching kept Cleveland in these games, not the offense. 

Despite some slow starts from their starters, the pitching wasn’t the issue for the Guardians in this series. Tanner Bibee gave up two runs in 5.0 innings while striking out five and Ben Lively put together a quality start for Cleveland throwing 6.0 innings and giving up two earned runs.

The offense only scored four runs and tallied 11 hits over the three-game stretch. Cleveland has the best bullpen in baseball and the rotation is starting to figure it out, but they’re never going to win games if they can’t score runs. 

Jul 10, 2024; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt (12) walks back to the dugout during the seventh inning against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports / Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Something has to change with the Guardians’ inconsistent bats soon, or the Guardians could find themselves out of first place in the division by the middle of the week.