Three Observations From Guardians Loss To Royals, 6-1

The Kansas City Royals are tied at the top of the American League Central after a win over the Cleveland Guardians.

Aug 27, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt (12) takes the ball from relief pitcher Scott Barlow (58) during a pitching change in the seventh inning against the Kansas City Royals at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports / David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Guardians no longer lead the American League Central. After their win over Cleveland on Tuesday, the Kansas City Royals are officially tied with the Guardians at the top of the division.

The Royals beat the Guardians, 6-1, in their four-game series. Here are three observations and takeaways from Cleveland's game three loss.

Gavin Williams

Gavin Williams made one mistake in his start against the Royals. He left a 98 mph fastball in the middle-inside of the plate, and Paul DeJong drove it over the right field wall for a two-run homer.

Outside of that, Williams was phenomenal. He pitched 5.0 innings, giving up three hits and two earned runs, walking two batters and striking out six. Williams only threw 83 pitches, and it looked like he could've gone longer, but a rain delay that ended up lasting over two hours cut his start short.

Bullpen Cracks Continue To Show

What once was considered the best bullpen in baseball has been overworked and overused, and their crack are starting to show. It started on Monday with Hunter Gaddis and Tim Herrin giving up runs and Emmanuel Clase giving up multiple hard-hit balls.

Then on Tuesday, it got worse for the back end relievers.

The bullpen was tasked with closing out the night following the rain delay. The game resumed with Cleveland down one run to the Royals. However, Kansas City finished the game with a five-run lead.

Scott Barlow, Pedro Avila, and Anthony Gose gave up a combined four earned runs on six hits.

Sure, these may not be Cleveland's go-to, high-leverage guys, but this performance from this trio shows that the Guardians are running out of options and fresh arms in late-game situations.

Aug 27, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians relief pitcher Anthony Gose (26) delivers a pitch in the seventh inning against the Kansas City Royals at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports / David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

More Weak Contact From The Guardians

The Guardians only tallied three hits against the Royals. The most concerning part about the offense from this loss, and truly over the last few weeks, was the weak contact they made.

Cleveland only had to balls with an exit velcoity of 100 mph on Tuesday and both of them came from Josh Naylor. One was a 102.8 mph flyout in the 4th inning and the other was 106.0 mph lineout in the 9th.

The Guardians have to figure out a way to get back to making hard contact.