Cleveland Guardians players greet teammate Lane Thomas after Thomas hits a grand slam in the fifth inning during Game 5 of the American League Division Series against the Detroit Tigers on Saturday, Oct. 12. (From left back row: David Frye, Stephen Kwan, Jose Ramirez). 2024, Cleveland. On the right is Tigers catcher Jake Rodgers. (AP Photo/Phil Long)
CLEVELAND — Lane Thomas hit a grand slam off Tarik Skubal, Cleveland defeated the Detroit Tigers 7-3 on Saturday in Game 5 of the American League District Series, and the Guardians set up another postseason matchup with the Yankees. He moved his pieces forward.
Cleveland will play New York in the ALCS, setting up a series between the two teams, who have met six times in the past, in October. The last time the two sides met was in 2022, when the Yankees defeated the ALDS in five games.
Game 1 will be played Monday in the Bronx.
Thomas had five RBIs for the Guardians, who were not expected to compete this season. But they made it through the tough American League Central Division under first-year manager Stephen Vogt, and Cleveland still has a chance to end its World Series championship drought that stretched to 1948.
The Guardians needed to beat Skubal, the AL’s leading candidate for the Cy Young Award, to maintain this momentum. The left-handed pitcher went 24 consecutive scoreless innings (17 innings this postseason) before the Guardians scored five runs in the fifth inning, tying the most runs allowed in 2024.
And Cleveland, in its familiar wild style known as “Guard’s Ball,” loaded the bases with three singles (one to an infield roller) before Skubal hit All-Star Jose Ramirez to left to force the score.
That’s where Thomas came in, hitting a three-run home run in Cleveland’s 7-0 victory in Game 1.
The center fielder, who had struggled in his first month with the Guardians after joining from Washington in a July trade, connected on Skubal’s first pitch and sent it just over the 19-foot wall in left-center field.
After Ball’s touchdown, the Guardians’ dugout emptied and the red-clad Progressive Field crowd roared and celebrated.
As has been the case all season, Vogt relied on the best bullpen in MLB, but the bullpen showed some wear and tear.
After Thomas hit a home run, the Tigers scored on Jake Rogers’ single in the sixth inning, threatening to leave the bases loaded with two outs. However, Hunter Gaddis struck out Kelly Carpenter and won Game 2 with a three-run home run in the ninth inning.
But the Tigers continued to hang on, and in the seventh inning Colt Keith’s one-out RBI double brought the score to 5-3. Eli Morgan replaced Cleveland and struck out both batters he faced.
Thomas hit an RBI single in the eighth inning to put the Guardians up by three runs, but that’s when Vogt turned to All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase, the American League saver, to put the Tigers away.
Crace threw one hundred mph fastball after another, getting the final six outs. When Keith was forced to retire to first base with a routine grounder, the Guardians were finally able to breathe and make plans for their first ALCS visit since 2016.
Skubal lost for the first time since Aug. 2 and the Tigers missed a chance to beat the Guardians on Thursday at Comerica Park, ending an unimaginable late-season onslaught in disappointment.
Detroit, which fell out of contention in August, regrouped its team and changed its approach to the season. Buoyed by some of the kids they brought up from the minors, the Tigers went 31-13 after Aug. 11 and qualified for the postseason. It is one of three teams to qualify for the AL Central Division.
They then defeated Houston in the wild card round, facing Cleveland for the first time in the postseason after more than 2,300 games between the two teams.
The Guardians took first place in April and never let it go. Cleveland became one of the biggest surprises of the season, winning 92 games under Vogt, a former journeyman catcher with no managerial experience.
Before the game, Vogt was sure his team wasn’t done yet.
“It feels like going to New York,” Vogt said.
The Guardians are on their way.
trainer room
Tigers: Carpenter injured his hamstring in Game 4 and was removed from the starting lineup. He didn’t have much time to recover because of his quick recovery and MLB’s decision to change the start time from 8:08 p.m. to 1:08 p.m. . Carpenter came on as a pinch hitter in the fifth inning and homered off Trey Sweeney for a 1-0 lead.
