CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Guardians found another painful way to extend their season-high losing streak Sunday, falling 7-2 to the Detroit Tigers in 10 innings after a wild pitch from closer Emmanuel Clase allowed the tying run to score in the ninth.

Clase’s errant pitch squirted between catcher Bo Naylor’s legs, enabling Detroit’s Zach McKinstry to score from third and force extra innings. The Tigers then erupted for six runs in the 10th, highlighted by Trey Sweeney’s three-run homer and Riley Greene’s two-run shot off Cade Smith, who had not surrendered a home run all season until that point. Matt Vierling added an RBI double as the Tigers pulled away.

Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said Clase’s spiked cutter at a hundred miles an hour just seemed to trickle right under Naylor’s glove.

“It’s a tough pitch to keep in front, it really is,” Vogt said. “It’s one that needs to stay in front. It happens. It’s just a tough time for it to happen. Our catchers are so good. Just, a spiked fastball is the hardest pitch in the world to block. Just unfortunate the timing.”

The loss marked Cleveland’s 10th consecutive defeat, the franchise’s first double-digit losing streak since dropping 11 straight from July 27 to August 7, 2012. It also completed Detroit’s sweep of the series, their first in Cleveland since April 2015.

The Guardians had a chance to end the game in the bottom of the ninth after Angel Martinez opened the inning with a leadoff double. But Nolan Jones flew out to center fielder Parker Meadows and Naylor grounded out to McKinstry at first before Daniel Schneemann sent a soft liner that Javier Baez caught at third to end the threat.

Vogt said situational hitting is the area the Guardians have struggled with the most during their losing streak.

“We have to get that job done there,” Vogt said of the club’s chances in the bottom of the ninth. “We have to get him over. It’s where we are in the order. It’s a bunch of lefties versus sidearm righty. It was the right time to swing away and just didn’t get it done.”

Vogt admitted that the frustration is mounting.

“This game felt like a kick in the pants, it really did,” Vogt said. “It’s gut-wrenching, heart-wrenching. We played an unbelievable baseball game today … We have to be better. We’ve got to take care of the little things. That’s what makes this team so great is we take care of the little things that we haven’t been.”

The late-game collapse erased what had been a pitching masterclass from Guardians starter Gavin Williams, who matched Tigers ace Tarik Skubal through six scoreless innings. Williams allowed just one hit while walking three and striking out eight in his sixth quality start of the season.

“Gavin was unbelievable,” Vogt said. “That’s as good as we’ve seen him. That’s as sharp as we’ve seen his stuff for as long as we’ve seen him carry his stuff, executing pitches when he had to, that was unbelievable.”

Cleveland appeared poised to snap their skid when Steven Kwan’s RBI double in the eighth broke a scoreless tie. The rally began with Austin Hedges’ single that snapped an 0-for-10 slump, followed by a walk to Brayan Rocchio. Kwan, aiming for his third hit of the afternoon, then drove in pinch runner Daniel Schneemann with a double into the corner.

Kwan’s offensive performance — his 30th multi-hit game and 10th with at least three hits this season — was complemented by his defensive prowess. In the third inning, he robbed Colt Keith of extra bases with a leaping catch before crashing into the left field wall.

Kwan added an RBI sacrifice fly to center in the bottom of the 10th to give him 28 RBI.

Skubal continued his dominance over Cleveland, striking out 10 over seven shutout innings. The Tigers’ ace had previously fanned 13 Guardians in a complete game shutout on May 25.

The loss marked Cleveland’s third straight series sweep and seventh of the season. According to Elias Sports, the Guardians had not been swept in three consecutive series since 2012 and had not suffered back-to-back home series sweeps since June 2003.

Next

The Guardians open a six-game road trip with three against the Astros in Houston beginning Monday. First pitch from Daikin Park is set for 8:10 p.m. Right-hander Tanner Bibee (4-9, 4.20) will start for Cleveland, while lefty Colton Gordon (3-1, 4.37) takes the mound for Houston. The game will air on CLEGuardians.TV, WTAM 1100 AM, WMMS 100.7 FM and the Guardians Radio Network.

Generative AI was used to organize information for this story.

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