Cleveland — In the first game of an AL Division Series on Saturday, the Cleveland Guardians defeated the Tigers 7-0 thanks to a three-run home run by Lane Thomas and a five-run outburst before Detroit got an out. The Guardians’ lights-out bullpen also allowed them to finish a four-hitter.
On his first-ever postseason swing, Thomas’ shot allowed the Guardians to keep the Tigers at bay. The Tigers used a second-half surge to storm into the playoffs, and they went on to sweep AL West champion Houston in the wild-card round.
Before the Watchmen director Stephen Vogt made the way for the best warm up area in baseball to finish off the Tigers, Leather expert Bibee threw 4 2/3 innings. With 4 1/3 hitless innings from relievers generally, Cleveland’s shutout triumph edge was the most noteworthy in postseason history.
In the last four innings, Detroit failed to advance a runner over first base and struck out thirteen times.
Cleveland’s pen was just as good as it looked. In Bibee’s place, rookie Cade Smith (1-0) knocked out the first four batters he faced. Hunter Gaddis handled the eighth, Tim Herrin the seventh, and AL leader Emmanuel Clase, with 47 saves, the ninth.
With a first-round bye and no games for nearly a week, the AL Central champion Guardians were undaunted by David Fry’s two-run double in the sixth inning.
The Tigers will go to AL Cy Young Award favorite Tarik Skubal in Game 2 on Monday in an attempt to tie the best-of-five series.
This was the first postseason game between the Central division rivals, Detroit and Cleveland, in their 2,327th meeting.
After the principal inning, it was basically finished.
Tigers manager A.J. Hinch has been making the correct choices for months as his young team has improved from being below.500 at the trade deadline to a 33-13 record since August 11th, which has qualified them for the postseason.
Game 1 saw Hinch utilize his warmup area from the off, which fizzled.
Thomas’ moon shot into the left-field bleachers gave the Guardians a 5-0 lead in the first inning, as they sent nine hitters to the plate. In the history of the AL playoffs, Cleveland became the first club to score five runs without recording an out.
Fry walked and Steven Kwan opened the scoring with a double off Tigers starter Tyler Holton (0-1). After then, Zach McKinstry misplayed a hard hopper to third base by José Ramírez, which gave Kwan the opportunity to score.
Following just four batters, Hinch removed Holton and replaced him with Reese Olson, a decision that quickly gained momentum after Josh Naylor’s RBI single put the score at 2-0.
After being acquired from Washington in July, Thomas batted just.143 with 33 strikeouts in his first month with Cleveland. However, he left his first postseason at-bat with the Guardians with wonderful memories.
He activated Olson’s first pitch, a slider down the middle of the plate, and blasted it over the wall, energizing most of the 33,548 spectators inside Progressive Field.
Before the first game, Bibee said that he was nervous, and he displayed some of those feelings.
Pitching mentor Carl Willis was brought in after he hit Riley Greene with two outs and surrendered a solitary with one out. On his 27th pitch, Bibee got Colt Keith on a sloppy fly to record the game’s last out.
Bibee was able to adjust after taking the mound in the second with a five-run lead. The right-hander struck out six while giving up four hits.
ROOM FOR TRAINER
Defenders: RHP After ending the regular season on the injured list due to a blister on his middle finger, Alex Cobb—a strong contender to start Game 3—was added to the ALDS roster. Along with being a previous teammate of Vogt’s, Cobb’s postseason experience—he defeated Cleveland in the 2013 wild-card round with Tampa Bay—certainly helped his cause. In a July deal, Cobb was obtained from San Francisco.
Next up
In terms of victories (18), ERA (2.39) and strikeouts (228), Skubal led the AL. The left-hander is anticipated to take on Guardians RHP Matthew Boyd, who was a close buddy of Skubal’s for eight seasons during his time with the Tigers.