Guardians remain resilient as Game 3 loss puts season on brink

DETROIT — All the Guardians’ wiggle room is gone. A 3-0 loss to the Tigers in Game 3 of the American League Division Series on Wednesday has caused Thursday to be a win-or-go-home scenario.

Maybe a young team like this would crumble under that type of pressure. But this group believes it’s played with this mentality from the start of the season.

They all reported to Spring Training 10 days early to make sure the outside narrative, the one that believed they’d struggle after a lackluster 2023 season and now with a first-time manager at the helm, would be incorrect. They believed whole-heartedly that the “hot start” they got off to, the one everyone else was convinced would fade, was their true identity. They never believed that a losing skid, even one as bad as the seven-game streak in August that caused everyone to believe they would lose the division title, would last longer than a day.

It’s a mentality that led them to the postseason that they were only given a 33.4 percent chance of clinching on the eve of Opening Day. Now, they’re hoping it’s enough to get them to win the organization’s first potential elimination game since Game 6 of the 1997 World Series.

“We’ve done this all year,” Guardians outfielder Will Brennan said. “A lot of people have never really believed in us until we made it to the postseason. Again, kind of just the norm. Backs against the wall and show up tomorrow ready to go.”

Cleveland has seen 11 elimination games since that day in 1997. A loss in each of them gives the club the longest streak of potential elimination-game losses in postseason history. And just 98 hours prior to watching the final out be made in Game 3, the Guardians were in a prime position to not even face elimination in this series.

The bats came out hot in Game 1, plating seven runs to set a dominating tone. Cleveland knew it had a daunting task in taking on the Cy Young favorite, Tarik Skubal, in Game 2, but thanks to stellar pitching, the Tigers were held scoreless through eight innings. But the Guardians’ offense couldn’t get going and let the opportunity to steal a victory slip away. It was up to Game 3 to right the ship. The Guardians had done it time and time again this season. But this time, the offense remained stagnant.

For the first time in Guardians history, they’ve been shut out in back-to-back postseason games. This is just the first time they’ve been shut out in consecutive contests at any point in the season since Aug. 31-Sept. 1, 2022. They’ve been scoreless for 20 straight innings, dating back to the seventh inning of Game 1. In all of ‘24, they didn’t exceed more than 19 consecutive scoreless innings.

“Obviously, playoffs, it’s a lot more magnified,” Guardians designated hitter David Fry said. “I think guys have hit balls hard. … Balls aren’t really falling, but I think if we keep putting together good at-bats that things will go our way.”

There are a lot of reasons for the Guardians to get stuck looking in the rearview mirror. History isn’t in this organization’s favor. The last few days have not given the impression that momentum can suddenly pivot toward Cleveland. But this gives the group the opportunity to do the one thing they’ve done best all season long: Turn the page.

There’s a reason the Guardians only suffered one major losing skid this season. There’s a reason they ended up in the playoffs with an unlikely group. They’ve tried to learn from their mistakes and may now have a better idea of how to handle and strategize against the “pitching chaos” deployed by Detroit night after night.

The Guardians will have their ace, Tanner Bibee, on the mound in the potential elimination game on Thursday at 6:08 p.m. ET. They know he led them to the dominating victory in Game 1 just four days ago. They know the entire world is expecting the Tigers to be popping champagne at their home field.

A win in Game 4 guarantees Cleveland a Game 5 at home on Saturday — with Skubal awaiting once again with the series on the line. For now, all that matters is Game 4 on Thursday.

The odds are once again stacked against Cleveland. This group is confident it knows better than anyone how to ignore the noise. Now, the Guardians just need to prove it.

“A lot of us have been overlooked our entire lives,” Brennan said. “So just the way we play the game, play the game hard, it’s going to take 27 outs to beat us.”