The Cleveland Guardians have run into some tough pitchers in the last week: Dylan Cease, Jack Flaherty, the Detroit Tigers bullpen …

(record scratch)

Wait … what?

The Guardians were unable to beat up the Tigers bullpen like they did two days earlier, as Detroit prevailed 3-0 on Thursday afternoon at Progressive Field.

The advantage of facing an opposing team’s bullpen is that even if most of the pitchers are on their games, it only takes one guy having an off night to rally for the victory.

That didn’t happen, as six Detroit pitchers combined on a four-hit shutout with 10 strikeouts.

HOW ABOUT GAVIN?

Although Gavin Williams took the loss, he struck out nine batters in six innings and got better as the game progressed.

Unfortunately, he gave up a three-run homer to No. 9 hitter Javier Baez in the second inning for the only runs of the game.

That was another unlikely event, as Baez is hitting .177 despite being in the middle of a six-year, $140 million contract.

Three of Cleveland’s four hits were doubles (Jose Ramirez, Josh Naylor, Jhonkensy Noel), but the Guardians couldn’t put together a scoring rally.

OUR STORY THUS FAR

So the story of the Cleveland Guardians is that they raced to a huge advantage in the AL Central Division, but they have been puttering along as a sub-.500 team for the last three weeks.

A huge test begins tonight as the Guardians visit the best team in baseball, the Philadelphia Phillies.

Ben Lively (8-5) will start for Cleveland, while Cristopher Sanchez (7-5) will throw the first pitch for the Phillies at 6:40 p.m.