3 Biggest Mistakes the Guardians Must Avoid in Potential ALDS Sweep

The Cleveland Guardians find themselves backed into a corner against the Chicago White Sox and are on the brink of elimination in the MLB Playoffs.

After the Guardians lost Game 2 on Monday 4-3, it seems like a long shot for a team that’s struggling to hit anything to climb back into this race. But there is a path for Cleveland to pull it off if they are up for the challenge.

Only a short list of teams has ever come back in an ALDS series when facing a series sweep, and Cleveland happens to be one of the last teams to have been victims of losing a series after going up 2 games to none.

It’s time for the Guardians to rally, and there’s no better place to do so than on the road in a divisional opponent's stadium. Why not give White Sox’s fans a taste of their own medicine by stealing two games on their home turf?

Here are the three biggest mistakes the Guardians needs to avoid to stay in this series against the White Sox:

Must avoid only tallying four or less total hits, don’t leave runners on base

The Guardians just haven’t been able to find many hits in their first two games of the ALDS, and it’s a serious problem. Not to mention, they continue to leave runners on base in key moments, which could have changed the outcome of both Game 1 and Game 2.

In Game 1, Cleveland found hits from their six through eight-hole batters, then fast forward to Game 2, it was their top four hitters doing all the work. That just isn’t a recipe for success especially in the playoffs.

Either way, all of their batters need to find something within themselves for Game 3. Stop swinging for home runs, and don’t let up on those swings even if they're down on the score board.

Tense hitters won’t be able to get enough power to hit it out of the park, so keep those swings precise and stay calm.

It won’t be a good result if they only muster three or four hits again. The Guardians need an offense boom in Game 3 to gain back some momentum.

Don’t fall behind early, because the fight back hasn’t been there

This team hasn’t shown any signs of fight except for maybe the eighth inning of Game 2. Outside of that, they seem to bow themselves out before it’s even over. Both games were very winnable if Cleveland’s offense stepped up.

Luckily, the Guardians haven’t let up a whole lot of runs through the first two games, obviously the problem is them not putting up any points in return. If they can keep Chicago’s scoring low in Game 3 and get their offense rolling, it will be another very winnable game.

They have to take advantage of that, and their veteran superstar third baseman Jose Ramirez needs to be vocal in the dugout. If not him, someone has to. This team looks so drained and exhausted, which is fair, but that’s not a true winning mentality.

Bullpen has to show up and step up, currently giving games away

While it hasn’t solely been relief pitcher Erik Sabrowski’s fault, it also has been in some significant ways. He’s continuing to allow runs scored off of decisive hits from Chicago, and he’s becoming less and less reliable.

It would be a shame if Cleveland felt they were hurting themselves by playing him, so he needs to lock it in as one of their top relief pitchers.

He’s been their main problem out of the bullpen, especially with the runs he’s given up so far. The rest of the bullpen needs to continue to pitch well to hold off Chicago’s red-hot offense, especially when it comes to the later innings.

Maybe the Guardians decide to hold off on pitching Sabrowski until the sixth or seventh inning, it could allow for their offense to put up more runs on the board, even if he then pitches and gives up a few.

Either way, the Guardians must win Game 3 to keep themselves alive.

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