Guardians fall to Tigers in series finale

CLEVELAND — The Guardians entered Thursday night needing a victory over the Tigers and an Astros loss to clinch a postseason berth.Neither happened. Houston beat the Athletics and Cleveland lost 4-2 at Progressive Field to Detroit, which hit three home runs off left-hander Parker Messick to slow the Guardians' momentum. The Tigers climbed back into a tie atop the Central Division with the Guardians, who own the tiebreaker after clinching the season series 8-5. Cleveland's magic number to clinch the division title is at three, two to secure the final wild card berth from the Astros. Cleveland, which managed only five hits, fell to 18-6 in September, losing for only the third time in its last 19 games. Will Vest struck out the side in the ninth to earn the save. About the only good news for the Guardians was Jose Ramirez reaching another milestone with his 726th extra-base hit on an RBI double in the eighth inning. He moved past Earl Averill for the most extra-base hits in franchise history. Messick allowed solo homers to Jahmai Jones and Wenceel Perez three batters into the game and surrendered another solo shot to Riley Greene, bringing an end to an historic run for Cleveland's rotation. Messick was the first starter to surrender more than two runs, ending a franchise-record 19-game streak. The rookie got little support from his offense, which managed only a run on three hits over the first six innings — two on a pair of doubles from rookie C.J. Kayfus. Kayfus' two-out double in the second scored Cleveland's first run. Messick lost the streak two innings in, allowing a double to Massillon Jackson High graduate Dillon Dingler, followed by a two-out RBI single to Javier Baez that put the Tigers in front 3-0. Rotation rolling Last year, the Guardians rode a dominant bullpen to an ALCS appearance. This year, it's been the rotation that has carried the load, especially during Cleveland's remarkable September run. "Every year's different. Every team's different," manager Stephen Vogt said. "Our team's much different than it was last year. We were built on our bullpen last year. We didn't have the length we're getting from our rotation last year. Our bullpen was historic last year, so we went to them as soon as possible. This year, our starting pitching has been outstanding, so they're earning the sixth inning. It's been really fun to watch them. "When we lost the ninth inning earlier in the year (during closer Emmanuel Clase's struggles), our starters stepped up and picked up the sixth. That's really been the story of the second half for us is that the starters have picked up the sixth inning." Ironically enough, Vogt's decision to employ a six-man rotation has paid off handsomely. Guardians starters entered Thursday on a historic run, limiting the opposition to two runs or fewer in a franchise-record 19 straight games. If left-hander Parker Messick was able to make it 20 Thursday, Cleveland would join the Chicago White Sox in 1917 as the only teams in MLB history to accomplish the feat. The rotation owned a 12-0 record and 1.35 ERA, while averaging 6 1/3 innings per start over the 19-game span. No comment Speaking of Clase, videos surfaced on social media showing the three-time All-Star working out with a Winter League team in the Dominican Republic. Clase and starting pitcher Luis Ortiz are on paid non-disciplinary leave as the focus of a gambling investigation. "I still can't comment on the Clase matter," Vogt said. "I'm ready to manage our game tonight." Doctor's office David Fry joined the Guardians as a fan for the series finale, two days after being hit in the face by a pitch from Detroit's Tarik Skubal and sustaining multiple fractures. "He won't be in the dugout or anything, but he felt up to coming and saying hi to the boys," Vogt said. "He's doing great. He's with his family. Obviously, he's still banged up, but we missed him (Wednesday) night. It was definitely a void and it'll be good to see him." Vogt said Skubal rode shotgun with him to see Fry in the hospital Tuesday night, and he dropped off the pitcher at his hotel afterwards. "I learned Tarik Skubal is an elite human," Vogt said. "We didn't talk any baseball. It was about Fry. It was about where he is from, just getting to know him. He was very, very concerned for David and it was a really, really cool thing that he did." l Nolan Jones doesn't look like an option for the postseason after being placed on the injured list Saturday with a right oblique strain. "He's going to be out for a while," Vogt said. "We're not sure. We have to see how it progresses. Maybe there's a glimmer of hope if we go deep that he could help us." Bounce back Bibee Right-hander Tanner Bibee entered September having allowed four or more runs in nine of his last 13 starts. He's surrendered two runs or fewer in all four of his outings this month. "I feel like ever since there were some tweaks we made before the Chicago start (Sept. 12), I definitely felt a lot more like myself, and then trying to get certain pitches to certain zones where they perform the best," said Bibee, who is 12-11 with a 4.24 ERA over 31 starts this season. "And I think that's just kind of been the difference. I feel like I've had my stuff all year. It felt like it was one or two pitches here and there that made the train fall off the tracks, whether it was a homer or whatever. But I feel like mentally I'm in a way better place with that kind of stuff." Fans frenzy The Guardians drew 55,864 fans to the first two games of the series against the Tigers and were expecting another big crowd Thursday. "Playing in front of them has been really fun, really inspiring," said left fielder Steven Kwan. "Like I said before, it's a work night, school night, and still people are showing up. I think it's been a ton of fun. It's a playoff atmosphere. "When they're ooh-ing and ahh-ing on pitches around the zone, that's how they're locked in. They're not on their phones. They're not eating their food. They're with us every single pitch." Next up The Guardians wrap up the regular season with a three-game series against the Rangers at Progressive Field that begins Friday night at 7:10.RHP Slade Cecconi (7-6, 4.15 ERA) opens the set for Cleveland, opposing RHP Jack Leiter (9-10, 3.92). Neither team has named starters for the final two games of the regular season. Roundin' third Tickets for wild card games at Progressive Field go on sale today at 10 a.m. The Guardians have the potential to host all three games of the series. The limit is six tickets per purchase and will be on sale only at cleguardians.com/tickets. Contact Chris Assenheimer at (440) 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him on X @CAwesomeheimer.