DETROIT — Close your eyes and imagine the most 2026 Cleveland Guardians inning possible.A dud of a pinch hit appearance that strands a runner in scoring position. A couple of walks by a Cleveland pitcher in the ensuing half-inning. A Matt Festa entrance. A double steal in which the throw to third winds up in left field, resulting in one run. A single, resulting in another. A balk. A barrage of four-letter words hurled at TVs across Northeast Ohio.Open your eyes. You weren’t daydreaming. That’s precisely what unfolded in the seventh inning at Comerica Park on Tuesday, as the Guardians’ season continued to slip away, in a loss full of familiar snapshots of sloppy execution.We’ve come a long way from the Guardians leaving a broom front and center in the visitors clubhouse in this building, as they did after a sweep of the Detroit Tigers in mid-May. The Guardians now sit in fourth place in the AL Central. The Tigers, even after trading away their top two starting pitchers at the deadline, are surging.A month ago, after a lengthy debrief with pitcher Slade Cecconi following a walk-off loss to the Minnesota Twins, catcher and de facto team spokesman Austin Hedges delivered an impromptu sermon on dealing with struggles during a marathon season. “There is no glory,” he said, “without sucking and suffering and overcoming things. We’re being tested right now.”That eloquence preceded a four-game winning streak. Then the Guardians slammed into the All-Star break, and they’ve since sputtered to a 7-16 record.Jo Adell hit his first home run since the Guardians acquired him from the Angels last week. (Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)The reality is, the Guardians have scuffled for much longer than that. Since the Guardians seized the series opener in Philadelphia on May 22, when Gavin Williams went pitch for pitch with Cristopher Sánchez, they own a 27-40 record. Only the Colorado Rockies and Athletics have fared worse in that stretch. That’s not the company you want to keep. That’s like inviting a couple of skunks to your living room.For 2 1/2 months, it’s been a meager offense and a pitching staff too mortal to handle such a thin margin for error. In recent weeks, with the addition of Nathaniel Lowe and Jo Adell at the trade deadline and the spark of recent call-up Angel Genao and the U-turn Steven Kwan has executed on what looked like a lost season, the offense has performed a bit better, but with a glaring blind spot. They refuse to hit with runners in scoring position.The Guardians recorded exactly one hit in each of the nine innings Tuesday. They went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11 runners. They rank No. 29 in the league — ahead of only the sorry Royals — with a .677 OPS in such situations. Last season, for all of their warts, they ranked No. 15.“When you look at this offense a year ago,” manager Stephen Vogt said, “it was hard to get on base, but when we did get on base, we were driving runners in. And then this year, it feels like we’re getting on base, just not driving runners in. It’s one of those things that we’re going to continue to talk about and work through and learn. It’s just been a rut right now with the runners in scoring position. But like I’ve said, and I maintain, it’s going to break free at some point.”Of course, it’s not like this club has excelled in other situations.2025 overall: .226/.296/.373 slash line