The Detroit Tigers avenged their massive collapse in the American League Central in their playoff matchup against the division champion Cleveland Guardians.
For the second consecutive season at Progressive Field, the Tigers and Guardians played a winner-take-all game to close out a postseason series. This time around, the Tigers flipped the script from a year ago to finish the job against Cleveland and advance to the American League Division Series against the Seattle Mariners.
For now, the Tigers can put their 15 1/5 game blown lead in the rearview mirror. They knocked Cleveland out after the Guardians surged to win the division and the regular season series against Detroit.
To close the book on the series, here are three studs who stood out in another Tigers-Guardians playoff clash.
STUDS
Tarik Skubal
The best pitcher in baseball certainly performed like it with a fabulous performance in Game 1. Skubal led the Tigers to a 2-1 win after 7 2/3 dominant innings with 14 strikeouts. He continued his Cy Young Award defense, while he’s on track to repeat, with a monster postseason tone-setter for Detroit.
Bo Naylor
Cleveland’s offense isn’t an explosive one, so Naylor’s three-run home run to blow the game open in Game 2 kept the Guardians alive in the series and offered a rare flex of power from a scrappy lineup. Naylor added needed power for Cleveland after the offseason trade of his brother, Josh Naylor, to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Gavin Williams
Skubal took the upper-hand in Game 1. That shouldn’t take away from the strong outing for the Guardians starter.
Williams went toe-to-toe with the Cy Young winner when he held the Tigers at bay through six shutout innings with eight strikeouts.
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