The Cleveland Guardians face a win-or-go-home situation during their Game 2 matchup against the Detroit Tigers, but this is a scenario the team has recently faced. 

The Cleveland Guardians entered the playoffs with plenty of momentum, but that spark was extinguished on Tuesday.

With Cleveland’s loss to the Tigers in Game 1 of the American League Wild Card series, the Guardians were officially eliminated during Wednesday’s Game 2. It’s simple for the Guardians to win or go home.

While that task and situation may seem daunting, and the margin for error is essentially zero, the Guardians still have the experience and mental strength to get themselves back in this series and even go on and win it. 

The position the Guardians find themselves in is far from unfamiliar territory. 

Cleveland had to play near-perfect baseball starting at the end of August to give themselves a chance at even reaching the postseason, and they did just that.

Just like how the Guardians may feel cornered now, they can use the experience they had when they were down 15.5 games in the division in July and 11.0 games at the beginning of September as proof they have what it takes to overcome a one-game deficit. 

“Our backs have been against the wall for three months. What's one more day?” said manager Stephen Vogt after Tuesday’s heartbreaking loss.

It may seem like a cliché to bring up Cleveland’s double-digit division deficit when every team started on a level playing field on Tuesday, but it’s also a reality.

This Guardians team knows how to take it one game at a time and control what they can control. Vogt emphasized that this mindset is exactly what helped them get back in the playoff picture to begin with.

It’s not easy, but Cleveland has to turn the page, and they’ve shown just recently they're able to do just that.

As Vogt said shortly after Tuesday’s loss, “We're going to bounce back. We've done it all year. We love having our backs against the wall. We'll come out ready and hungry tomorrow and ready to take one.”