Andrew Abbott looked impressive when he defeated the Cleveland Guardians in Cincinnati back on May 18.

He pitched five shutout innings as the Reds won 3-1. Maybe the Guardians would figure him out the second time around, right?

Wrong.

Abbott dominated the Guardians for all nine innings in 1-0 victory last night at Progressive Field.

The 26-year-old lefty gave up three hits and a walk while striking out five. Abbott improved his record to 6-1 with a 1.87 ERA.

MORE GREAT PITCHING

Cleveland’s pitchers were impressive as well, although not perfect.

Slade Cecconi dropped to 1-3 despite giving up just four hits and a run in five innings. He struck out eight batters and only walked one.

The Guardians’ bullpen did its job. Michael Festa, Nic Enright, Hunter Gaddis, and Jakob Junis each pitched a scoreless inning.

Cincinnati scored the only run of the game in the fifth inning. Will Benson doubled and scored on a single by Spencer Steer.

One bright spot: Jose Ramirez extended his on-base streak to 36 games.

TIME TO PANIC?

The Detroit Tigers are pulling away from the pack in the AL Central Division with a sparkling 44-24 record.

The Guardians are nine games behind with a 34-32 mark.

It’s a good thing that three wild card spots are available, because a repeat division championship is starting to seem unlikely.

TODAY’S GAME

Once again, the Guardians are in the position of trying to avoid getting swept at home. It worked against Houston on Sunday.

Logan Allen (3-4) will start for Cleveland against the Reds’ Nick Lodolo (4-4). First pitch is set for 1:10 p.m.