The Cleveland Guardians jumped out to a quick start thanks to a five-run first inning and simply dominated the Detroit Tigers in a 7-0 win on Saturday. Cleveland takes a 1-0 lead with its Game 1 victory in the American League Division Series.
For the Guardians, Saturday’s game was the first action they’ve had since finishing up the regular season against the Houston Astros. Detroit, of course, sent the Astros home with a two-game sweep of the AL Wild Card series. But the Tigers were not able to put their offense on the scoreboard at all at Progressive Field in Cleveland.
Cleveland Guardians Ride Bullpen
Lane Thomas‘ three-run home run jump-started the Cleveland Guardians in the first inning. It was the main piece of a five-run outburst against Detroit Tigers starter Tyler Holton. Holton gave up Thomas’ homer and two hits while walking one. Detroit manager A.J. Hinch pulled him in the first, turning the ball over to Reese Olson.
Guardians starter Tanner Bibee posted 4 2/3 scoreless innings, giving up four hits. Bibee walked one and struck out six. Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt removed Bibee in the fifth, putting his trust in the Guardians’ bullpen. Four relievers came in and totally did their job. Cade Smith picked up the victory. He was followed by Tim Herrin, Hunter Gaddis, and Emannuel Clase.
“I always want to stay out there,” Bibee said, The Associated Press reported. “I mean, it’s postseason. I totally get it. With how good our ‘pen has been, I get it. It makes sense. Obviously I want to stay out there as long as possible, but I get it.”
Vogt was quite pleased with Smith’s outing, where he struck out all four batters in 1 1/3 innings of work. The Cleveland Guardians manager has seen Smith put things together all season long. “Cade’s been so special,” Vogt said. “You never want to say you’re not surprised, but what Cade has done all year long, what Timmy has done all year long, Gaddy, Clase, a number of our bullpen guys, and pitching in general has been fun. But Cade, there’s no heartbeat. There’s no pulse. He just comes in and gets the job done.”
Hinch admitted that watching the Guardians’ bullpen perform wonderfully was not that surprising. “We’re going to see a lot of this bullpen,” he said, according to CBS.com. “The more you look at them, hopefully, the more comfortable you get.”
David Fry smoked a two-run double in the sixth inning, upping the lead to 7-0 for the Cleveland Guardians. That was all the offense Cleveland needed on Saturday in front of a rollicking home crowd. Fry was as much of a fan of what his teammates did out of the bullpen as the Guardians’ fans were as well.
Detroit Tigers See Pitching Plan Backfire
“It’s just so amazing what they’ve done, and it gives Vogt and the rest of our staff an easier job,” Fry said. “Bibee was doing really well. He was great. But it’s just so comforting being like, all right, Cade Smith, here you go. You’re going to strike out pretty much everybody you face, and that’s what he does all year.”
As they compiled a 33-13 record to close out the regular season and storm into the AL playoffs, the Detroit Tigers employed an interesting pitching strategy. Hinch would have a starting pitcher maybe face the minimum three hitters, then turn the ball over to another teammate. It’s a strategy that caught many teams off-guard.
Well, five days off for Cleveland didn’t seem to get it off-balance at all. The Guardians came out ready to rock and roll from the first pitch. Now, they have a one-game lead in this best-of-five series.
Yet Cleveland will face a tough test in Game 2 on Monday. Tarik Skubal, who dazzled in his AL Wild Card series start, gets the ball for the Detroit Tigers. Skubal secured the “Triple Crown” pitching bag in the American League this season. He led the AL in victories (18), earned-run average (2.39), and strikeouts (228). He’s in the driver’s seat to win the AL Cy Young Award, too.
Vogt is expected run right-hander Matthew Boyd out there for Cleveland. Boyd spent eight seasons with Detroit, so he knows his opponent pretty well.
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