Guardians muster just four hits in 2-1 loss to Astros

The Guardians had a chance to clinch a series against the AL West’s No. 1 team tonight and they flopped quite hard. To be fair, it was a weird lineup day for Cleveland — with Franmil Reyes taking the night off, Josh Naylor at designated hitter, and Ernie Clement at second base as they prepare to travel to Detroit for a four-game series tomorrow.

Their bats looked like they were already on the flight north.

Owen Miller had the hardest-hit ball of any Guardian on the night — a 105.0 mile-per-hour out — and that is about the extent of offensive highlights tonight. That, and Josh Naylor absolutely trucking his way home on a passed ball to give them their only run of the game.

José Ramírez ended Cristian Javier’s night with a double in the sixth inning, but by that point Bally Sports Cleveland had apparently long stopped trying to clip highlights from this game. So instead, enjoy a few reactions from Astros fans for an idea of how beautiful the hit was:

The offensive ineptitude overshadowed a few solid pitching performances from the Guards, as well. Cal Quantrill pitched 6.0 innings, marking the sixth straight time he’s made himself eligible for a “quality start.” He leaned predominately on his sinker and cutter, throwing the pitches a combined 81 times for five swings and misses and nine called strikes.

Bryan Shaw even managed to strike out three of the four batters he faced while protecting a one-run lead in the eighth inning, but no one will remember that in the morning. They’ll remember the fact that the offense struck out 12 times and Steven Kwan looked awful at the plate and now I’m sad.

This is a fun team at times, but tonight was not one of those times.