For the first time since 2016, The Cleveland Guardians advance to the American League Championship Series after a 7-3 win over the Detroit Tigers.
Whether admitted or not, Cleveland fans were holding their breath leading up to Game 5 of the ALDS. Not that anyone was scared to face Detroit per say, but the Tigers have been that sneaky team that exploded in early August and crept their way into the postseason, not going to go away without a fight.
Cleveland however, were betting on themselves the moment they booked the Game 4 win in Detroit. “You have to believe. If you don’t believe in your group, don’t even show up,” said Stephen Vogt.
The Guardians were coming into today facing arguably the best starter in baseball, Tarik Skubal (6.0IP,6H,5ER,1BB,6SO). The lefty posed a threat in Game 2 of the series, allowing only three hits through 7 innings against Clevland’s bats, aiding the Tigers 3-0 win on Monday.
Despite coming into the day with 13 scoreless innings to open the postseason, Vogt and the Guardians clubhouse had different plans against the lefty for the winner-take-all Game 5.
“Our guys showed up confident today. We didn’t know when it was going to happen, but every single person that walked into our clubhouse today believed we were going to get to him,” said the first year manager.
Through the first three innings of work, Skubal wasn’t letting much happen. The Guardians got some runners on and in scoring position, but couldn’t find that spark. — That was until the bottom of the 5th inning.
With the bases loaded, the Cy Young candidate walked the first run of the game in, striking Jose Ramierz on the forearm and granting him first base that lead to another bases loaded situation. This time for Lane Thomas.
In what felt like a deja vu moment from Game 1, Thomas became Cleveland’s hero once again. Skubal dealt a 97 mph fastball that Thomas took to left-center for a tie-breaking grand slam.
The Guardians went up 5-1 as the bench and fans erupted. Andres Gimenez leaped into Jhonkensy Noel’s arms in excitement as they waited for Thomas to reach home.
“You dream of at-bats like that as a kid, and to do it at this stage in this game and come through for the guys in the clubhouse feels awesome,” said Thomas.
From there, the momentum and control shifted in Progressive Field and never left the home team.
The Tiger tacked on two more runs through the sixth and seventh, but so did the Guardians, responding with two insurance runs in the seventh and eighth.
Emmanuel Clase (2IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 2SO) came in from the bullpen in the eighth for Eli Morgan (0.2IP, 0H, 0R, 1BB, 2SO), getting another go at Kerry Carpenter, who handed him his first 3-run homerun given up in his career in Game 2. This time, Clase made sure to send Carpenter packing, striking out the lefty to end the top of the eighth.
Coming back for the ninth, in typical Clase fashion, the righty retired the side to end the game and advance the Guardians into the ALCS with a final score of 7-3.
While there is still work to be done for the Guardians, Steven Kwan said they’re going to enjoy this one. “When tomorrow comes, we’ll get to the field we’ll formulate our game plan from there, but today, what I think what we’re supposed to do is just enjoy it.”
As the number one seed in the American League, the Yankee’s await the Guardians in the Bronx for the first two games of the ALCS starting Monday, October 14.