Schedule gets tougher for Guardians in last third of season | Jeff Schudel

Aug. 8—Guardians takeaways from Aug. 8 on their first day off since the All-Star break:

Fifty-four games — exactly one-third of the season — spread over 16 series remain for the Guardians as they try to overtake the Minnesota Twins in the AL Central or muscle their way into one of three AL wild-card spots.

The Flying-Gs are one game behind the Twins and two games out of the last wild-card spot — an indication how lame the Central Division is.

Ten of the remaining series, totaling 32 games, are against teams with winning records. Seven of the series are against teams contending for a wild-card spot in the American League. The Guards have eight games remaining against the Twins — five of them at home from Sept. 16-19. They play the Mariners seven times, the White Sox six times and have three games each with the Blue Jays, Orioles and Rays. They also have a two-game set with the Padres in San Diego later this month.

The Guardians finish the season with six home games against the Kansas City Royals (44-65). The last three games of the series are makeup games from the first series of the season. Those games were moved to the end of the schedule because the start of spring training had to be postponed by the lockout, which delayed the start of the regular season.

Six teams are within three games of wild-card spots. That number doesn't include division leaders.

Not to look too far ahead, but with the races as tight as they are now, six games against the Royals to end the season could determine whether the Guardians are still playing baseball or golfing in the second week of October.

—The Guardians open a three-game series with the Tigers, last in the Central Division at 43-67, on Aug. 9. Shane Bieber is scheduled to start.

Bieber is a modest 6-6 this season, but the Guardians are 13-7 in his 20 starts.

"I feel confident every time I go out there," Bieber said after a complete-game victory in July when asked if he believed he is better than his record (4-5 at the time). "Decisions are decisions. There are discrepancies of what people think of those.

"Ultimately, I just try to go out there and eat up innings. I think if you're able to do that, the rest of the categories will follow. So that's kind of what matters to me is the longevity of the outing and bouncing back from bad ones and not compounding mistakes."

Bieber gave up five runs in 5 2/3 innings during a start in Detroit on July 6. The Guardians lost, 8-2, in a stretch that turned out to be the low point of their season. They were swept in the four-game series with the Tigers and then lost two of three in Kansas City.

Bieber is 3-1 since the clunker last month. He allowed one, one and two earned runs in those victories.

—On the subject of pitching, Aaron Civale is scheduled to start against the Tigers on Aug. 10. It has been a lost season for the 27-year-old right-hander.

Civale, 12-5 in 2021, is just 2-5 this season. He has had two stints on the injured list, most recently because of a sprained right wrist. He pitched just one inning July 13 against the White Sox. He gave up two hits without allowing a run, but experienced discomfort and did not take the mound for the second inning.

The Guardians are 5-7 in games Civale pitched this season. They are 7-13 in games Zach Plesac (2-10) has pitched.

Civale and Plesac turning around their seasons could help make those six games against the Royals at the end of the season meaningful.

—The Guardians gave up on Franmil Reyes. The Cubs are giving him another chance.

The Cubs on Aug. 8 announced they signed Reyes, two days after the Guardians designated him for assignment.

It is a low-risk move for the Cubs. Reyes is owed $1.5 million for the balance of 2022 and he is under club control for two more seasons.

After hitting 30 homers and driving in 85 runs with the Indians last year, Reyes this season has nine home runs and 28 RBI. He is hitting .213 after hitting .254 last season.

"He wasn't getting to the fastball, and it seemed like the hanging breaking ball, he was kind of hitting it maybe for a single, and there was an occasional home run," Guardians manager Terry Francona said after the team designated him for assignment. "But he just wasn't getting the pitches he used to."

Josh Naylor has taken over Reyes' role as designated hitter. Nolan Jones and Oscar Gonzalez platoon in right field and Owen Miller plays first base in most lineups now