DETROIT -- The closer we get to the All-Star break, the closer we are to the Trade Deadline. And the closer we get to the Trade Deadline, it seems like more and more questions keep popping up for the Guardians to answer.

This four-game series in Detroit that ended with a 10-1 loss to the Tigers at Comerica Park on Thursday highlighted two of the biggest problems that have plagued this club all season: Lack of starting pitching and difficulty within the division.

Let¡¯s start with starting pitching.

The Guardians have been making smaller moves over the past few weeks to try to give themselves options moving forward. They know that there might not be a ton of obtainable options on the trade market at the end of the month, so if they could get someone like Matthew Boyd, who should be recovered from his Tommy John surgery and ready for Major League action in August, why not take the chance? They also picked up righty Spencer Howard, who could be an option as a starter or in relief.

The first step was trying Howard as a starter. Howard made his Guardians debut on Thursday and it didn¡¯t go as planned. He allowed four runs on seven hits with three walks in just three innings. He was replacing Logan Allen, who was sent down to Triple-A Columbus after his last start, to try and eat some innings and save the bullpen in the final days before the All-Star break. Instead, his pitch count ran too high to allow him to get past the third.

¡°Just never caught the groove,¡± Howard said. ¡°Wanted to come out and set the tone after a close loss yesterday. Just unable to execute. ¡­ A lot of work to do.¡±

The Guardians can¡¯t declare their long-term plans for Howard after seeing him pitch just three innings, but the team will need to figure out if he¡¯s the best option to keep in the rotation. Allen and Triston McKenzie are sharpening their arsenals with Columbus. Gavin Williams is back in the big league rotation and looking like his old self. Tanner Bibee has grinded through this first half of the season to be the workhorse this team needed. But from there, Cleveland has plenty of question marks.

Howard can start, but if he¡¯s not consistently getting deep into outings, the Guardians might need to find another answer. He can move to the bullpen and eat up frames later in the game, but Cleveland will have to determine if there¡¯s room in the ¡¯pen for Pedro Avila and Howard to serve similar roles, if that ends up being a possibility.

But as the team spends the coming weeks determining that, it has to figure out what¡¯s next. If Howard -- who had a 5.63 ERA in just seven appearances with the Giants this season and 11 walks in his previous 15 1/3 innings entering his Guardians debut -- isn¡¯t destined to be in the rotation (or even if he is), Cleveland knows it has to scour the market before the July 30 Trade Deadline to try and bring more depth to an area of its roster that¡¯s arguably been its greatest weakness.

The Guardians' starters entered the series finale in Detroit with a 4.54 ERA -- the third worst in the American League (behind the A¡¯s 4.93 and Angels¡¯ 4.65). This has played a big role in why this club has struggled so much against the AL Central.

After dropping three of the four contests against the Tigers, Cleveland has a 15-13 record against division opponents, thanks largely to going 5-0 against the Twins. But the Guardians have gone 5-5 against the struggling White Sox, 3-4 against the Tigers and 2-4 against the Royals.

"We¡¯re not playing very well against our divisional opponents,¡± manager Stephen Vogt said. ¡°For us, we know it¡¯s a long season. We¡¯re gonna have ebbs and flows like this.¡±

The Guardians have a comfortable 4 1/2-game lead in the division over the Twins, but they know if they want that to stick, these two trends cannot continue.

¡°I just think at this point in the season teams are hungry to beat us,¡± catcher Austin Hedges said. ¡°A tough series like this is an opportunity for us to respond in Tampa [Bay] and to go into the break hot.¡±