The Cleveland Guardians’ starting pitching had been on a historic 19-game stretch, which came to an end against the Detroit Tigers on Thursday. 

The Cleveland Guardians' pitching staff has been on some kind of run over the last three weeks. The six-man rotation has arguably been the key reason the team is closing in on clinching a playoff berth for a second consecutive season.

The starters haven’t just been good, they’ve been historically dominant over this stretch.

Heading into Thursday night’s matchup against the Detroit Tigers, Cleveland’s pitching staff had allowed two or fewer runs in each of its last 19 games, dating back to September 5. 

It takes a true team effort to put together a run as good as this one. Gavin Williams, Tanner Bibee, Slace Cecconi, Logan Allen, Joey Cantillo, and Parker Messick have each pitched gems in September.

Unfortunately, Messick struggled with his command early in his outing, something rare for the 24-year-old pitcher. He gave up three runs through the first two innings of the game, which officially snapped Cleveland’s historic streak.

Jahmai Jones led off the game with a home run, Wencel Perez hit his own solo shot later in the first inning, and Javier Baez drove in Dillion Dingler after he doubled in the top of the second inning.

At some point, the streak has to come to an end.

This 19-game stretch by the Guardians set a new club record. It’s even a feat that the 22-win Clevelanders in 2017 weren’t able to accomplish during their pitching dominance, and MLB hasn’t seen a run like this one since the Tampa Bay Rays and their pitching factory manufactured a similar stretch in 2019. 

Stephen Vogt emphasized before Thursday’s game that the starting pitching has been the “story of the second half” of the season, which is certainly an understatement when looking at what the rotation has done in the last month alone. 

That said, it’s unrealistic to expect the starting core to continue preventing as many runs as they have over the last three weeks. 

At some point, Cleveland’s hitting must pick up the pitching, and it looks like the tide could finally start to turn in that direction with this streak coming to an end.