When Colin Holderman entered in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Cleveland Guardians felt comfortable.
The team was ahead, 2-0, and Holderman had been one of Cleveland's more reliable arms out of the bullpen this season. Entering Saturday, he had given up a combined three earned runs across the last 23.2 innings, averaging out to a remarkable 1.14 ERA during that span.
But Holderman hit a wall for the first time in quite a while and somehow, someway, ended handing the game away.
"It just looked a little erratic," Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said when reflecting on Holderman's sixth-inning performance. "You know, I thought he yanked a couple of breaking balls to hit the two lefties with two strikes, and you know, left a fastball over the middle to Peters that he was able to get out in the gap. So very uncharacteristic of Holdy.
"He's been so good in that role this year, and just ended up being a tough night."
With two outs in the inning, relieving starter Gavin Williams , Holderman would hit two batters before allowing a two-run double. He then gave up a two-run single moments later, before being yanked from the outing.
He exited with two hits allowed, two plunked batters, three runs allowed and three earned runs allowed, all on just 16 pitches.
Fortunately, Erik Sabrowski joined the action and closed out the inning in just two pitches. The damage, though, had already been done.
The Guardians would go on to lose, 6-3 , with Tim Herrin giving up an earned run in the eighth inning, which helped secure the win for the home team.
Reflecting on the loss, Vogt shared that it's tough to take a defeat like that on a Saturday night, especially with a day game coming on Sunday to decide the series. Both squads sit towards the top of the American League Central and at this point in the year, these games matter so much more.
"Anytime we lose, it's disappointing," said Vogt. "But we have an opportunity to win the series tomorrow. That's the goal. You'd love to come in here and get a sweep, obviously, but we still have a chance to walk out of here with a series win. All these games are big down the stretch. We know that. But at the same time, there's time. You're going to lose some, you're going to win some.
"But what I really like is how competitive we are right now. We didn't quit. You know, it would have been real easy after you get a gut punch like that to quit. This team is competing and fighting..."
As Vogt mentioned, the Guardians didn't quit after falling behind.
In the top of the seventh, rookie infielder Angel Genao punched his first big-league home run over the right-field wall, pushing the game right back into reach. That inning nearly resulted in the Guardians putting more runs on the board, too, as they ended up with two in scoring position.
While, outside of Genao's homer, they weren't able to cross home plate after the sixth inning, the Guardians didn't quit.
With the series on the line on Sunday, that type of mentality will have to be right back on display.
The two sides will clash at 2:10 p.m. EST in Chicago for the series finale from Rate Field.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/guardians/onsi as Guardians Implode in Late-Inning Loss to White Sox on the Road, Bullpen Struggles .
