3 Guardians to blame for Game 3 loss sending Cleveland to the brink of elimination

Nine more innings, still no runs for the Cleveland Guardians, who are now a game away from elimination after a 3-0 loss to the Detroit Tigers in Game 3 of the ALDS. Cleveland starter Alex Cobb gave up two runs in just three innings of work, and with the way this lineup is struggling right now, that was pretty much all she wrote: It's now been a full 20 innings since the Guardians scored a single run, and Wednesday's shutout was particularly painful, with eight men left on base and an 0-for-8 mark with runners in scoring position.

After a loss like that, there's plenty of blame to go around; really, include every single hitter in that list if you want to. But some players (and one manager) stick out a bit more than others as Cleveland now has to try and regroup to save its season.

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4. Eli Morgan

Cobb wasn't particularly sharp, but he also was the victim of some bad luck: Detroit scored its first run on a seeing-eye single from Riley Greene with two outs in the first, then added a second on a leadoff double followed by a groundout and a sac fly. The Tigers were hardly scalding the ball off the righty, and he did enough to keep the Guardians in the game.

With runs at a premium, however, Cleveland's bullpen needed to keep the game a 2-0 at all costs, and Morgan was the weak link in the chain, allowing another run in the sixth on an RBI double from Spencer Torkelson — who'd entered the at-bat 0-for-13 with eight Ks so far in October.

3. Andres Gimenez

Again, take your pick of Cleveland hitters here. But we'll focus on Gimenez, whose plate appearance in the top of the second embodied everything that went wrong for the Guardians offense in this game. With runners on first and second and nobody out, Vogt initially called for Gimenez to lay down a sacrifice bunt. But after nearly popping out on his first attempt, the bunt sign was called off ... only for Gimenez to harmlessly fly out to left without even moving the runners up a base. Gimenez finished 0-for-4 with a strikeout on the day and is now hitting .100 for the series.

2. Stephen Vogt

When a team's star hitters aren't hitting (more on that in a moment), there's not a ton that a manager can do. But Vogt did his offense no favors this afternoon, and at this point, it's safe to say that Tigers counterpart A.J. Hinch is fully in his head — and causing bad decisions. With Detroit using righty reliever Keider Montero as an opener, Vogt opted to start Kyle Manzardo at first base and Will Brennan in right. But when Hinch inserted lefty Brant Hurter to start the top of the second, Vogt panicked, swapping in David Fry for Manzardo and Jhonkensy Noel for Brennan.

Not only did the strategy wipe away two of Vogt's better hitters for the majority of the game, but it also took away any late-game flexibility. Half of Vogt's bench was burned by the time six outs had been recorded, meaning that only Austin Hedges was left when the skipper needed a pinch-hitting option with the game on the line in the ninth inning. The whole thing smacked of overmanaging, and it cost Cleveland dearly.

1. Jose Ramirez

Could it be anyone else? Ramirez's postseason track record is well-documented, and Wednesday was another ugly chapter: 0-for-3 with an intentional walk, including a crucial flyout with two outs and two runners on to end the top of the fifth and snuff out one of Cleveland's last best chances to score. At this point, it's getting hard to give Ramirez the benefit of the doubt, despite how great he is over the course of the regular season. His career postseason OPS now sits at .628, with just two homers and 10 extra-base hits over 133 at-bats. The Guardians often haven't done enough to put firepower around him over that span, but at a certain point, your stars need to play like stars in October, and Ramirez felt far too ordinary in Game 3.