Rain finally stops, but Guardians offense dries up in 5-0 loss to Padres

Guardians151/15Tanner Bibee and the Guardians take on the Padres at Progressive Field.CLEVELAND, Ohio — Rain clouds had cleared by the time Sunday’s game between the Guardians and Padres got underway following a weather delay of more than three hours. But the gloom that has hung over Cleveland’s offense for the better part of the last two months remained. Casey Mize held the Guardians to three hits in six shutout innings, and Tanner Bibee’s trouble with the home run ball continued as San Diego handed Cleveland a 5-0 loss at Progressive Field to take two of three in the series.The Guardians have lost seven of their last 10 games and five straight series since taking two of three against Cincinnati in late July. Cleveland fell two games behind Baltimore for the third AL wild card spot.It was the Guardians’ 11th shutout loss of the season.Chase DeLauter exits Guardians lineup with injury against PadresColin Holderman’s wrist injury adds another concern for bullpen – Guardians takeawaysChase DeLauter has advice for Cardinals rookie Joshua Báez after historic 3-homer debutRain delayed the first pitch by three hours and 11 minutes, and Cleveland lost one of its hottest hitters in the third when Chase DeLauter exited with mild left hamstring tightness.DeLauter, who popped out in his only at-bat, entered batting .345 with a .919 OPS in August. He had multiple hits in six of his previous nine games.The rest of Cleveland’s lineup did little against Mize.José Ramírez singled in each of his first two at-bats, and Nathaniel Lowe doubled with one out in the second. The Guardians could not turn any of it into a run.That has been a recurring problem. Cleveland entered Sunday batting .263 in August, its best average in any month this season, but had stranded an AL-high 114 runners while batting .227 with runners in scoring position.Mize, acquired by San Diego from Detroit at the trade deadline, walked one and struck out three in six innings for his fifth win.Bibee (4-13) ran into trouble in the second against two hitters who have given him problems before.Luis Rengifo and Gavin Sheets hit back-to-back home runs to give San Diego a 2-0 lead. Rengifo entered 6-for-11 with a homer against Bibee, while Sheets was 2-for-2 with a homer and four RBI. Each has now homered twice against him.Bibee has allowed 25 home runs this season, second-most in the American League behind Athletics left-hander Jeffrey Springs with 28.Xander Bogaerts made it 3-0 with an RBI single in the fourth after a Bibee wild pitch helped set up the run.Bibee avoided further damage when San Diego loaded the bases with one out in the sixth. Freddy Fermin lined to Lowe at first, and Lowe threw to Brayan Rocchio at second to double off Rengifo.Rengifo was initially ruled safe when second base umpire Shane Livensparger ruled Rocchio’s foot came off the bag, but manager Stephen Vogt challenged and the call was overturned.Bibee allowed three runs on seven hits and three walks in six innings. He struck out three and allowed the two home runs.He entered Sunday with a 6.00 ERA in August after allowing 10 runs, eight earned, over 12 innings in his first two starts this month. He has a 5.73 ERA and a 1-6 record in eight interleague starts.Tim Herrin allowed a solo home run to Padres rookie outfielder Jase Bowen with two out in the eighth. It was Bowen’s second career blast and the fifth allowed by Herrin this season.Logan Allen, recalled from Triple-A Columbus ahead of Saturday’s game, allowed a solo home run to Jake Cronenworth in the ninth. Ramírez finished with two of Cleveland’s three hits and continued his career-long success against San Diego. He is now 26-for-65 (.400) against the Padres.But there was little else from a Guardians lineup that has gone quiet at the worst possible time. After another lost series, Cleveland’s margin for error in the AL playoff race continues to shrink.Next:The Guardians are off Monday before opening a three-game series against the Giants at Progressive Field on Tuesday. Left-hander Foster Griffin (13-4, 3.25) will start for the Guardians, while San Francisco sends lefty Carson Whisenhunt (3-3, 6.11) to the mound. First pitch is set for 6:40 p.m. The game will air on Guardians TV, WTAM 1100 AM, WMMS 100.7 FM, WARF 1350 AM (Spanish) and the Guardians Radio Network.Joe Noga has more than 25 years experience in Cleveland sports media with time spent covering Browns, Cavaliers and Indians/Guardians, as well as local high school and college sports and athletes. He covered a...This article was produced with assistance from AI tools and reviewed by Cleveland.com staff.