The Cleveland Guardians defeated the Detroit Tigers 7-3 in ALDS Game 5, winning the best-of-five series and punching their ticket to the AL Championship Series. The Guardians will take on the New York Yankees in a best-of-seven set beginning on Monday, with the winner of that clash advancing to the 2024 World Series.
The Guardians, as expected, deployed a cavalcade of pitchers throughout Game 5. Veteran lefty Matthew Boyd officially received the start against his former team, striking out five batters in two innings of work. From there, rookie manager Stephen Vogt operated as if he was required by law to make a pitching change every five batters. To wit, here's a look at the pitchers Vogt brought in the rest of the way:
- Cade Smith took over in the third and pitched 1 1/2 innings;
- Erik Sabrowski recorded an out after being inserted in the fourth;
- Andrew Walters also recorded an out (and surrendered a run on a Kerry Carpenter single) after coming in during the fifth inning;
- Tim Herrin worked 1 1/3 innings and had a bequeathed run charged to him;
- Hunter Gaddis experienced some turbulence by surrendering more hits (three) than outs (two) before giving way in the seventh;
- Eli Morgan then took over, recording two outs and issuing a walk before being lifted;
- Last, but not least, closer Emmanuel Clase closed things out with two shutout frames.
That's eight pitchers used -- a series high from a team that had deployed at least five arms in each of the previous four contests. It wasn't straightforward and it wasn't glamorous. But Vogt's own version of pitching chaos -- to borrow a phrase from Tigers manager A.J. Hinch -- got the job done.
Of course, the Guardians' pitchers had some help, too.
Offensively, the Guardians were held in check by likely AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal until the fifth inning. In fact, the Guardians trailed 1-0 until Skubal hit José Ramírez with a pitch to force home the tying run. Then Lane Thomas struck.
Thomas, a midseason addition from the Washington Nationals, continued his highly productive series by unloading a grand slam to put the Guardians ahead by (at the time) a 5-1 margin. Thomas' grand slam was the sixth in Guardians postseason history (the first since Francisco Lindor's against the Yankees in the 2017 ALDS) and the first ever surrendered by Skubal.
The Tigers would later cut into that deficit, with Jake Rogers and Colt Keith both delivering RBI hits. The Guardians would answer back thanks to Thomas' fifth RBI of the game.
This will be the first time the Guardians reach the ALCS since 2016. They advanced to the World Series that fall before losing to the Chicago Cubs in seven games.
The ALCS is slated to begin on Monday. The NLCS, pitting the Los Angeles Dodgers against the New York Mets, will begin on Sunday.