2024 American League Division Series 2

2024 American League Division Series

Cleveland Guardians 92 - 69 in the AL	3 - 2 Series Summary	Detroit Tigers 86 - 76 in the AL

Overview[edit]

The Teams[edit]

Managers: Guardians: Stephen Vogt | Tigers: A.J. Hinch

Guardians

Tigers

Umpires[edit]

Adam Beck, Ramon De Jesus, Jim Wolf, Todd Tichenor (crew chief), Chad Fairchild and Nick Mahrley

Series results[edit]

Game	Score	Date	Starters	Time (ET)
1	Detroit Tigers 0 Cleveland Guardians 7	October 5	Tyler Holton (0-1) Tanner Bibee (0-0)	1:08 pm
2	Detroit Tigers 3 Cleveland Guardians 0	October 7	Tarik Skubal (0-0) Matthew Boyd (0-0)	4:08 pm
3	Cleveland Guardians 0 Detroit Tigers 3	October 9	Alex Cobb (0-1) Keider Montero (0-0)	3:08 pm
4	Cleveland Guardians 5 Detroit Tigers 4	October 10	Tanner Bibee (0-0) Reese Olson (0-0)	6:08 pm
5	Detroit Tigers 3 Cleveland Guardians 7	October 12	Tarik Skubal (0-1) Matthew Boyd (0-0)	1:08 pm

Results[edit]

Game 1 @ Progressive Field[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Tigers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	1
Guardians	5	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	x	7	7	0
WP: Cade Smith (1-0); LP: Tyler Holton (0-1)
Home Runs: CLE - Lane Thomas (1)

Attendance: 33,548

The Detroit Tigers' unconventional pitching strategy ran into the harsh realm of reality in Game 1 of the Division Series. While the Guardians were well rested and could use their best starter in Tanner Bibee, it was different for the Tigers, who since the trading deadline had to make do with only one outstanding starter. Because Tarik Skubal was not yet available, they went to their favorite strategy, which was to use a bullpen game. Manager A.J. Hinch called it "pitching chaos" when talking to the press before the game, but while it certainly resulted in chaos, it was probably not of the type Hinch had expected.

The Tigers made Bibee work hard in the top of the 1st, as their first two batters, Parker Meadows and Kerry Carpenter both had long at-bats, the latter's resulting in a single to center. After a ground out which advanced Carpenter to second, Riley Greene was hit by a pitch to place a second runner on base, but Colt Keith lined out to LF Steven Kwan to end the inning, stranding both runners. Then the game was won by the Guardians in the bottom of that inning. With Tyler Holton acting as the opener, Kwan led off by hitting a ball off the top of the right field wall for a double. David Fry then drew a walk and José Ramírez pulled a ball down the third base line; 3B Zach McKinstry was charged with an error when the ball went past him into the field corner, but even if he had fielded it cleanly, it's not clear that he would have had a play. In any case, Kwan scored and Fry and Ramírez ended up on second and third base. Next up was Josh Naylor, who singled to right to make it 2-0, as Ramírez did not need to take a chance to score given there were still no outs. That marked the end of a very unconvincing outing for Holton, who was replaced with Reese Olson. It did not help much, as his first offering was crushed by Lane Thomas, who deposited it beyond the left field fence for a three-run homer. It was 5-0, and for all intents and purposes, the game was already over.

Olson ended up pitching five innings, giving little else after Thomas's huge blow. For his part, Bibee also gave up next to nothing until the 5th, but when Meadows hit a single with two outs, he was lifted in favor of Cade Smith. He probably could have gone a couple of innings longer, but manager Stephen Vogt wanted to give a number of his relievers some work, coming off a long rest and with another rest day coming up. Unfortunately for the Tigers, the members of the best bullpen in the majors did not treat this as a routine work-out: from Smith's entrance until the end of the 7th, he and Tim Herrin struck out six of the seven batters they faced, with the other one popping out to first base. Meanwhile, the Guardians had put two more runs on the board in the 6th, both driven in on a double by Fry off Ty Madden. The rest of the game went by quickly, and Emmanuel Clase retired the Tigers in order in the 9th to bring it to an end, in what obviously was not a save situation.

Game 2 @ Progressive Field[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Tigers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	3	9	0
Guardians	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
WP: Will Vest (1-0); LP: Emmanuel Clase (0-1); SV: Beau Brieske (1)
Home Runs: DET - Kerry Carpenter (1)

Attendance: 33,650

Game 2 was a true pitcher's duel and while the two starters, Tarik Skubal and Matthew Boyd, were good friends from Boyd's time with the Tigers, they could not have been more different in terms of style. Skubal was a real throwback, a hard thrower who pitched deep into games, while Boyd was a pitcher whose best pitches were off-speed, and who rarely went more than five innings - if he made it that far. But today, both were excellent, as neither team had a significant scoring chance through the first five innings. But by then Boyd was already out of the game, having been removed after going 4 2/3 innings, during which he allowed 4 hits and 2 walks, but also struck out five opponents. When Stephen Vogt went to his bullpen, he used the same pitchers as in Game 1, and in the same order, starting with Cade Smith, followed by Tim Herrin, Hunter Gaddis and Emmanuel Clase.

In the middle innings, there were a few better scoring opportunities, even if none of them were converted. In the bottom of the 5th, the Guardians' first hit of the game was a one-out double by Josh Naylor, and Skubal hit the next batter, Jhonkensy Noel, with a pitch, but Andres Gimenez grounded into an inning-ending double play. The Guardians then got even closer in the 6th when Brayan Rocchio doubled with one out, then Steven Kwan hit a single, placing runners on the corners. But once again, Skubal got a timely double play, this one hit into by David Fry and necessitating some good glove work by SS Trey Sweeney and 2B Colt Keith. In the 8th, it was the Tigers who had a great scoring chance: Matt Vierling doubled off Gaddis with one out and after a second out, Vogt elected to issue an intentional walk to Riley Greene and to call on his closer, Clase. Wenceel Perez was up next and hit a sinking line drive to left field, but Kwan made a spectacular diving catch, gloving the ball just before it hit the ground, a play that was close enough to a trap that a video review was required. Skubal was still pitching at that point, but he gave way to Will Vest in the 8th, who kept the game scoreless by getting the Guardians in order, with Parker Meadows making a leaping catch against the wall to deprive pinch-hitter Kyle Manzardo of extra bases for the final out.

Clase was back on the mound for the 9th and got things started well enough by striking out Spencer Torkelson and getting Meadows to pop up. Jake Rogers hit a single, and Sweeney then singled as well, advancing Rogers to third. Suddenly, things were tense as the next batter was Kerry Carpenter, who had entered the game as a pinch-hitter for DH Justyn-Henry Malloy in the 8th. He and Greene had been the Tigers' two most dangerous hitters during the season, and he dug in for a good battle with Clase, laying off a couple of pitches around 100 mph, fouling off a nasty slider with two strikes, and then driving another slider deep into right field, landing into the stands for a dramatic three-run homer. Given how hard it had been to just get runners into scoring position all game, this was clearly a death blow for the Guardians. For the normally unhittable Clase, it was the first time he had surrendered a three-run homer in his entire career! Clase was unable to complete the inning, needing the help of Eli Morgan to record the final out, after that Beau Brieske retired the Guardians in order in the bottom of the 9th to pick up his second save of the postseason. The series was now tied.

Game 3 @ Comerica Park[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Guardians	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	1
Tigers	1	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	x	3	5	1
WP: Brant Hurter (1-0); LP: Alex Cobb (0-1); SV: Tyler Holton (1)
Home Runs: none

Attendance: 44,885

Game 3 was a bullpen game by design for both teams, as the Tigers designated a short reliever in Keider Montero to start the game, while the Guardians had Alex Cobb, who was a starter by trade but had only pitched three times during the regular season due to various injuries and as a result was not expected to pitch deep. Interestingly, even knowing that the Tigers would probably switch between righties and lefties a few times during the game, Stephen Vogt still decided to load up his starting line-up with lefthanded hitters, including DH Kyle Manzardo and RF Will Brennan, making himself vulnerable to the Tigers switching to a lefty - which is exactly what happened. In what was the first postseason game in Comerica Park in a decade, the Guardians outhit the Tigers, but were unable to get any hits with runners in scoring position, and were shut out for the second straight game. In contrast, Detroit played good fundamental baseball and was able to take advantage of its few opportunities, ending up with a 3-0 win.

Montero needed all of six pitches to go through the 1st inning as the Guardians were swinging early in the count. In contrast, the Tigers were more systematic in attacking Cobb as Parker Meadows led off with a single, then moved to second on Matt Vierling's grounder to short for the second out. Riley Greene followed with a timely hit, a single to center, and Detroit had a quick 1-0 lead. With Montero having been so effective in the 1st, A.J. Hinch must have been tempted to leave him in for longer, but he had planned all along to take advantage of Cleveland's lefty-heavy line-up by switching to a southpaw, in this case Brant Hurter. The move worked perfectly, even if Hurter gave up singles to the first two men he faced in the 2nd, Josh Naylor and Lane Thomas. After one out, Vogt pinch-hit Jhonkensy Noel for Brennan, but both he and Bo Naylor made outs, and the two runners were stranded. In the 3rd, Steven Kwan singled with one out and advanced to second on an ill-advised throw by SS Trey Sweeney, but he was stranded as well, even if Vogt made another change, pinch-hitting David Fry for Manzardo. By the end of the game, Cleveland's bench would be completely depleted, and the early pinch-hitting didn't help. Fry struck out, then the Tigers issued an intentional pass to José Ramírez and Josh Naylor grounded out, stranding two more runners. Those two innings for Cleveland were completely typical of how the entire game went: they were not completely shut down by Detroit's pitchers, but the hit that would have done real damage never came.

Detroit added a second run against Cobb in the 3rd, on a lead-off double by Jake Rogers and a sacrifice fly by Matt Vierling a few batters later, and Cobb left after three innings. Six relievers would succeed him during the rest of the game, with Detroit scoring just one more run. For the Tigers, Hurter pitched until there was one out in the 5th, and four more pitchers came after him, all of them doing a good job. The final run of the game came in the 6th inning on a single by Colt Keith, a wild pitch by Eli Morgan and a double by Spencer Torkelson. The Guardians' best chance to get back into the game was thwarted by Vierling at 3B, as he made a great leaping catch to snag a line drive off the bat of Fry with two runners on base, ending the 7th inning. Tyler Holton, who had failed to retire anyone as the starter in Game 1, was asked to close the game with a 3-0 lead, and he looked like a completely different pitcher. The final out was C Austin Hedges, one of the weakest hitters in the majors, but Vogt could not pinch-hit for him as Hedges had come in as a substitute for Bo Naylor, and the team's other potential catcher, David Fry, was also already out of the game. Plus, the only other bench player left was Daniel Schneemann, a lefthander, which would not have been ideal against a lefty like Holton, even without the quandary of who would come in to catch. So Hedges got to bat and struck out meekly to end the game.

One interesting tidbit about this game was that it was the first postseason game in which four Canadian players had appeared for the same team: brothers Josh and Bo Naylor were in the starting line-up for Cleveland, and Erik Sabrowski and Cade Smith both pitched during the game.

Game 4 @ Comerica Park[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Guardians	1	0	0	0	1	0	2	0	1	5	11	0
Tigers	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	0	1	4	9	0
WP: Hunter Gaddis (1-0); LP: Beau Brieske (0-1); SV: Emmanuel Clase (1)
Home Runs: CLE - José Ramírez (1), David Fry (1); DET - Zach McKinstry (1)

Attendance: 44,923

Game 4 was the first one of the series that was not a shutout; in fact there were a number of lead changes and lots of action before the Guardians managed to win the game. Once again, many pitchers were used, although both teams had an actual starting pitcher in place when the game started - Tanner Bibee, the Game 1 starter for the Guardians, and Reese Olson for the Tigers.

A lot had been said about the Guardians' inability to push any runs across in the previous two games, and it was imperative for them to break that skein quickly before it become an albatross. They did just that by getting a run in the 1st, a result of Steven Kwan leading off the game with a single, followed by another single by Kyle Manzardo. Olson almost wiggled out of the jam by getting José Ramírez on a short fly ball to left, then by striking out Josh Naylor, although Kwan stole third base during that at-bat. Up next was Lane Thomas, however, and he had homered off Olson in the 1st inning of Game 1. He got to him again, this time with a single that scored Kwan. In the bottom of the inning, Parker Meadows led off with a double that fell among a trio of players in short right field, but could not advance further. In the 2nd, though, the Tigers tied the game when Colt Keith drew a lead-off walk, then moved to third on a single by Spencer Torkelson before Bibee walked Zach McKinstry to load the bases with no one out. Trey Sweeney followed with a sacrifice fly to center, but Jake Rogers lined out to SS Brayan Rocchio, who then tossed the ball to 2B Andres Gimenez to double off Torkelson.

The score stayed at 1-all for a couple more innings, but this outcome required Olson to expend a lot of pitches, and he was removed after four innings, replaced by Tyler Holton, who after starting one game and closing another, was now asked to pitch in middle relief. He got two outs before Ramírez, whose bat had been very quiet until then, took him deep to left field to put the Guardians ahead again. That lead was short-lived as McKinstry opened the bottom of the 5th with a homer of his own, knotting up the score once again. That spelled the end for Bibee, who gave way to Cade Smith, who retired the next three batters. Holton retired the Guardians in order in the 6th, but in the bottom of the inning, the Tigers finally managed to get to Smith, who had been flawless in all of his appearances in the series until then. Kerry Carpenter led off with a single, and after one out, Matt Vierling drew a walk. Hunter Gaddis now replaced Smith, but after striking out Keith, he gave up a single to pinch-hitter Wenceel Perez, and Detroit was ahead for the first time, 3-2.

The Guardians had just three turns at bat left to avoid elimination, with Sean Guenther now on the mound to start the 7th. He got the first two outs, but then allowed a single to Kwan. Both managers then made a move, with Stephen Vogt calling on David Fry to pinch-hit for Manzardo, and A.J. Hinch replacing Guenther with Beau Brieske. Brieske threw a wild pitch, but it was inconsequential in the grander scheme of things as Fry hit a home run to center field, putting Cleveland back in the lead, 4-3. Gaddis continued on the mound in the bottom of the 7th and got two outs before Hinch asked rookie Jace Jung to pinch-hit for Carpenter - not for strategic reasons but because Carpenter had incurred a leg injury. Jung did manage to draw a walk, but Vierling struck out to end the inning. In the 8th, another rookie, Jackson Jobe, took the mound for Detroit and got the first two outs before Will Brennan doubled against the right field wall, just out of Perez's reach. Gimenez followed with a hard ground ball to right, but Keith made a great diving stop and threw him out, saving a run. Tim Herrin started the bottom of the 8th, but the first three batters he faced resulted in out out and a pair of singles, which gave Vogt reason to bring in his closer, Emmanuel Clase, who ended the inning with a ground ball and a strikeout of Sweeney. Jobe returned for a second inning in the top of the 9th, which may have been asking too much of the youngster, as he gave up singles to Rocchio and Kwan, placing runners on the corners with one out. Will Vest came in to pitch in an attempt to keep this a one-run game, but the Tigers were taken by surprise when Fry deposited a bunt down the first base line, and Kwan slid safely under Torkelson's throw to Rogers. That additional run would turn out to be very important when Justyn-Henry Malloy led off the bottom of the 9th with a pinch double. Clase then ignored him, getting Meadows and Jung to ground out, with Malloy scoring on the second out. With the bases empty, Clase then struck out Vierling for the final out, ensuring that there would be a Game 5.

Game 5 @ Progressive Field[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Tigers	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	0	3	7	1
Guardians	0	0	0	0	5	0	1	1	x	0	0	0
WP: Tim Herrin (1-0); LP: Tarik Skubal (0-1); SV: Emmanuel Clase (2)
Home Runs: CLE - Lane Thomas (2)

Attendance: 34,105

Game 5 was moved forward to the early afternoon - it would originally have been a night game as the only game scheduled that day - due to a threat of rain in Cleveland, OH. It proved to be an excellent decision as the game was played in bright sunshine. The two starters from Game 2 were back at it, with Tarik Skubal for the Tigers and Matthew Boyd for the Guardians, but working on two very different strategies. For Skubal, the mission was to go as long as he could, but for Boyd, it was a quasi-bullpen game as he was unlikely to make more than one turn through the batting order. The Guardians had gotten this far on the strength of their bullpen, and they would live or die by their bullpen in this game.

While everyone was expecting a low-scoring game, as had been the case in Game 2, there were plenty of scoring opportunities in the early going. Boyd started on the wrong foot by hitting leadoff man Justyn-Henry Malloy with his first pitch, then after striking out Matt Vierling, issuing a walk to Riley Greene. However, he struck out the next two batters to end the inning without any damage. For Cleveland, Steven Kwan led off the bottom of the 1st with a single that could just as easily have been ruled an error on SS Trey Sweeney, but he was unable to move further as the next three batters made outs. In the 2nd, Boyd struk out Spencer Torkelson but then gave up a double to Parker Meadows, who had been moved down in the order from his customary lead-off spot because a lefty was starting. Meadows then stole third base, but he couldn't advance when Jake Rogers hit a fly ball to shallow right field and Sweeney struck out swinging. Cade Smith had been warming up already in the 2nd, and Boyd having completed his one turn through the batting order, he took over for him in the 3rd and retired the Tigers in order. For his part, Skubal gave up a clean single to Brayan Rocchio, followed by a ball hit down the left field line by Kwan; Greene made an awkward attempt to catch it, but it bounced off his glove and both runners advanced two bases on what was rightfully ruled an error. Skubal struck out David Fry for the second out, then issued an intentional walk to José Ramírez to load the bases, before getting Lane Thomas to pop up.

A.J. Hinch made his first move in the 4th, substituting Colt Keith for Andy Ibáñez, but Smith struck him out as well as Wenceel Perez. However, Torkelson followed with a double, and Stephen Vogt replaced one Canadian pitcher with another, bringing in Erik Sabrowski to face Meadows, who worked a walk. Rogers then grounded out to shortstop, and yet another opportunity went to naught. Things would change quickly, though. After Skubal pitched another dominant inning in the 4th, Detroit got on the board in the top of the 5th. With another youngster, Andrew Walters, having replaced the equally young Sabrowski, Sweeney worked a lead-off walk, and Kerry Carpenter, even if unable to run due to a bad hamstring, was called in to bat for Malloy. He hit what would have been a double had he been able to run, over the head of RF Jhonkensy Noel, but stopped at first base while Sweeney circled the bases with the first run. Without the three-batter rule, Walters would probably not even have faced Carpenter, but he still had one more batter to pitch to, and did manage to strike out Matt Vierling. He was then replaced by Tim Herrin, who got Greene to ground into a double play. It was obvious that Carpenter couldn't move at more than a slow trot, but Hinch reasoned correctly that the game was still young and that his bat would be needed later in the game, so he was left in (the fact he was in the DH spot made the decision easier). Cleveland replied immediately to this run: Andres Gimenez led off the bottom of the inning with a single, then after one out, Kwan singled as well. Fry followed with a key hit, a ball that barely traveled at 42 mph towards second base, but was too slow for the Tigers' defenders to do anything with. Fry was credited with a single and the bases were loaded. This time, there was no open base on which to put Ramírez, but in trying to jam him inside, Skubal hit him on the wrist, forcing in the tying run. Next up was Thomas, and this time he drove Skubal's first pitch all the way over the left-center field fence for a grand slam. It was a huge blow, with the Guardians taking a 5-1 lead.

The big question now was whether Cleveland would have enough relievers to complete the game, given everyone so far had come in earlier than usual. That trend continued in the 6th when Herrin ran into trouble after two outs, allowing a double to Torkelson, followed by a wild pitch and a walk to Meadows. Vogt now brought in Hunter Gaddis, usually his set-up man, to face Rogers, but the Tigers' catcher hit a single to cut the lead to 5-2. Gaddis then walked Sweeney before getting Carpenter to strike out in what was one of the key match-ups of the game since the bases were loaded. After his rough inning in the 5th, it was the Skubal of old in the 6th, as he needed just five pitches to retire the Guardians in order, including a strikeout of Josh Naylor. Gaddis had hardly had time to catch his breath that he was back on the mound and soon found more trouble. Greene singled with one out, then scored on a double by Keith that cut the lead to 5-3. Vogt now called on Eli Morgan to pitch, and he got out of the inning with a pair of strikeouts. Things were getting a bit too close for comfort for the Guardians, but Skubal was done, and they managed to get something started against Will Vest. Kwan got his third hit of the day to lead off the inning and went to third on a single by Ramírez with one out. Thomas then drove in his fifth run of the day when he hit a ball towards second base on which Keith had to backpedal and doing so lost his footing when he tried to throw to first base. Everyone was safe, including Kwan who crossed the plate. Hinch now brought in his jack-of-all-pitching-trades, Tyler Holton, and he got the next two outs, but the additional run had made it 6-3 with just two turns at bat left. Morgan was still on the mound when the 8th inning started, but closer Emmanuel Clase was already warming up and he came in as soon as Morgan walked the first batter, Meadows, who was on base for the fourth time. Meadows immediately stole second base, and Rogers lined a ball hard to left field, but Rocchio made a perfect leap at shortstop and snagged the ball for the first out. Sweeney then flied out and Carpenter came to bat in a key situation for the third time, but he struck out again. The Guardians added a seventh run in the bottom of the inning, on a double by Gimenez followed by a single by Rocchio, and that made the hill just too steep for Detroit to climb. The Tigers went down meekly against Clase in the 9th, on a strikeout and a pair of weak grounders to 1B Josh Naylor. Cleveland was moving on to the ALCS, but it had taken everything they had to tame the Tigers.