Despite misstep, Guardians confident in 'one of the best bullpens'

PITTSBURGH -- Facing one of the best teams in baseball this past weekend, the Guardians got a wake-up call with a sweep at the hands of the Rangers to begin the second half.

The Guardians responded with two lopsided wins against the Pirates, and through six innings of the series finale on Wednesday afternoon, it appeared they’d trade a sweep for a sweep. But Sam Hentges allowed four runs while recording only one out to blow a tight lead in a 7-5 loss at PNC Park.

The bullpen stepped up in the series opener to shut out the Pirates, then held them to one run in four innings on Tuesday. But familiar issues this month reared their ugly heads on Wednesday after Aaron Civale held the Bucs to two runs in 5 1/3 innings.

Nick Sandlin arrived in relief of Civale in the sixth and recorded two outs to strand a runner on base. He got a strikeout to begin the seventh before he walked Nick Gonzales, and Endy Rodríguez stepped to the plate to pinch-hit for Austin Hedges.

With five batters in a row either switch-hitters or left-handed hitters, manager Terry Francona opted to go to with Hentges, one of two lefty options in Cleveland’s bullpen. Rodríguez blooped his first career hit, then Connor Joe singled to load the bases.

Hentges nearly got out of it with a double-play ball, which was originally the call on the field when Bryan Reynolds grounded a ball to second base. However, a replay review determined Reynolds tapped first before the throw hit the glove of first baseman Josh Bell, trimming Cleveland’s lead to one run.

After Hentges went ahead 1-2 to Carlos Santana, he issued a pivotal two-out walk, setting up Ji Man Choi to rope a two-run single to put the Pirates ahead, a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

“It’s not just walks,” Francona said. “Those certainly don’t help. We’re pitching, at times, behind in the counts, deep counts, but then when you have walks, other things happen, but they’re not as difficult to contend with if you don’t walk people.”

In fact, Cleveland’s bullpen has been one of the best at preventing free passes, with its 3.24 walks per nine innings the sixth-best mark in MLB entering Wednesday. The timing was just tough on Wednesday.

However, it’s hard to deny that the relief corps has had a rough go in July. The Guardians’ bullpen had the second-best ERA (3.06) in MLB this season entering this month, but they’ve pitched to a gaudy 5.47 ERA in 52 2/3 innings in July.

Eight of the 32 runs in that span have come two similar tough outings with a late lead since the All-Star break: Hentges’ four runs allowed Wednesday in a third of an inning and Trevor Stephan’s four runs given up on Sunday in a third of an inning.

“We’ve got one of the best bullpens in the game, regardless of how some of those past few games have gone,” Civale said. “No one’s going to deny that.”

Cleveland is working through these kinks without one of its key leverage relievers in past seasons. James Karinchak is pitching at Triple-A, trying to clean up command issues so he can return to help the Guardians in a run for the American League Central division lead, but it doesn’t sound like he’s quite to where the team wants him to be yet.

“He’s had good results in terms of strikeouts and things like that,” said president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti. “His stuff quality isn’t quite where it is when he’s at his best, so that’s something we continue to engage James with.”

And with a bevy of key starters sidelined, including Shane Bieber for at least the coming few weeks and Triston McKenzie until nearly the end of the season if all goes to plan, the task facing the bullpen isn’t going to get much easier.

Given how solid the relievers proved to be in the first half, though, confidence is still high in the group entering the first homestand of the season, which begins Friday vs. the Phillies.

“It’s baseball, the ups and downs,” Civale said, “but it’s one of the best bullpens in the game.”