Riding the high of the Wild Card sweep, the Tigers were feeling pretty great about their chances in the ALDS. Now this is a long series and there is certainly a lot of drama ahead of us, but it’s safe to say in the first inning the Tigers’ enthusiasm was dampened slightly. Things would not improve as the Guardians won a game they had to have by a 7-0 score on Saturday.
The Tigers were relying on their tried and true Opener strategy, with Tyler Holton up first, and the Guardians weren’t messing around with their best starter, Tanner Bibee, on the mound for Cleveland.
The first opened with a one-out single for Kerry Carpenter, then a two-out hit-by-pitch of Riley Greene, but no runs scored, which seemed like a set-up for a good old-fashioned scrabble for runs like we saw against the Astros. But the home half of the first put that hope to rest quickly. Tyler Holton gave up a leadoff single to Steven Kwan, who was just recently on the IL, but looking no worse for the wear. David Fry drew a walk. Then a fielding error from Zach McKinstry on what should have been a fielder’s choice allowed Kwan to score, Fry got safely to third, and Jose Ramirez reached first. Josh Naylor singled to score Fry, and that was it for Holton, with two runs in and no outs.
Reese Olson came in to replace him, and Lane Thomas hit a home run on a first pitch hanging breaking ball to score three additional runs. Andrés Giménez singled, and there was some concern after that about Reese Olson, who looked a little awkward trying to cover first base, resulting in a delay while Hinch and the trainers had a look at him. Olson pulled it back together to get three outs in a row and finally get the Tigers free of a brutal inning.
The Tigers were still fighting against Bibee in the second, and thanks to an assist from the sun, McKinstry got a one-out double as Lane Thomas simply couldn’t clock the ball and let it drop at the warning track in left center field. Unfortunately the Tigers couldn’t capitalize on the runner and McKinstry was left stranded. Olson was back in for the bottom of the inning, and gave up a leadoff walk to Kwan. David Fry then singled to put two on, and Olson clearly didn’t have his stuff early on today. Jose Ramirez flied out, advancing Kwan to third. Then, with two outs, Fry stole second, which showed that this Guardians team wasn’t going to rest on a five-run lead, they would be aggressive for the whole game. Olson’s second meeting with Thomas went better than the first, striking him out to end the inning.
In the third it only took Tanner Bibee 10 pitches to sit the Tigers back down, with a pop out, strike out, and ground out to continue his dominance over Tigers batters. With Olson finding his groove better by the end of the second, he remained in the game for the bottom of the third, and then he hit Giménez with a pitch. He then collected back-to-back strikeouts, before Giménez successfully stole second. A Brayan Rocchio groundout ended the inning.
The Tigers got a little something going in the fourth, with Riley Greene getting a leadoff single, and Colt Keith following that with a walk. Unfortunately that was followed with Spencer Torkelson swinging first pitch and grounding into a double play, and McKinstry bouncing out to end the inning. Olson kept working the fourth and got the Guardians out in order, looking very sharp as he worked into his outing.
With two outs in the fifth, Parker Meadows singled on a nice line drive to center. That was the end of the day for Bibee, surprisingly, going only 4.2 innings and 76 pitches, with four hits, one walk, and six strikeouts. Cade Smith came out of the Guardians’ pen in relief. Smith’s numbers are genuinely terrifying, and it’s kind of mean of them to bring him in with a five run lead. Smith got the final out in Carpenter. Olson was absolutely dealing as the bottom of the fifth rolled in. He once again got the Guardians out in order.
The Guardians kept Smith in for the sixth, and the Tigers simply couldn’t get a good grasp on his pitches. He struck out Matt Vierling and Riley Greene. Side note here, but I’m not a fan of the score bug for this series, as it doesn’t list the batter names for the entire at-bat, which is frustrating. Then, Colt Keith made it three in a row for the inning, four in a row since Smith came in.
Reese Olson’s game was over, going 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 1 HR on 73 pitches. He started rough but honestly had a great outing once he got settled down. The opener strategy depends on the opener doing the job. Olson had to rush into the game, and that was the story of Game 1.
Ty Madden came on in relief and gave up a leadoff walk to Jhonkensy Noel, who is evidently nicknamed “Big Christmas” by Guardians fans? With two outs, he then issued another walk to Steven Kwan. Chris Fetter came out for a mound visit. Too bad it didn’t help much. David Fry doubled to score Noel and Kwan in a hit eerily reminiscent of Andy Ibanez’s three-run base-clearer that helped win the Tigers the series. Madden intentionally walked Ramirez, and then was done for the day, replaced by Sean Guenther. The move worked and Naylor grounded out to end the inning. Damage was certainly done though.
In the seventh the Guardians turned to lefty Tim Herrin. Speaking of Andy Ibanez, he was in to replace McKinstry, and popped out to get the second out of the inning. A Sweeney swinging strikeout ended the inning and the Tigers continued to inch closer to a shutout. Keider Montero was next out of the pen, as Hinch took the opportunity to get another rookie’s feet wet in the postseason. Montero was lights out, easily getting three outs in a row to keep the Guardians from padding their lead.
Jake Rogers kicked off the top of the eighth with a walk from Jake Rogers, and that was then end of the game for Herrin, who made way for Hunter Gaddis. Justyn-Henry Malloy came in to pinch-hit for Parker Meadows, but as soon as Gaddis was announced another swap was made and Wenceel Perez came out instead. The shadows were getting deep on the field, and Kerry Carpenter grounded into a double play to end the inning. With one out in the bottom of the eighth, Brayan Rocchio hit a double to deep right field. After the second out of the inning, Kyle Manzardo came in to pinch-hit for Fry, and was the final out of the inning with a strikeout.
The Guardians decided to be extra mean in the ninth, bringing in Emmanuel Clase with a seven-run lead. No surprise whatsoever that he got the Tigers out in order with a strikeout, groundout, and flyout. The Tigers ended the game with a shutout.
Final: Guardians 7, Tigers 0
Series: Guardians lead 1-0