The Detroit Tigers got their revenge.
After the Cleveland Guardians eliminated Detroit in the playoffs last year and then overcame a massive deficit to win the American League Central this year, the Tigers went on the road and defeated their division rivals 6-3 in Thursday’s decisive Game 3 of the American League Wild Card Series.
As a result, the Tigers will face the Seattle Mariners in the AL Division Series.
Detroit broke things open with a four-run seventh inning after Dillon Dingler’s homer in the sixth in an offensive explosion after pitching largely set the tone in the early portion of the game. The overall performance and series win drew plenty of reaction from social media:
A major theme of the series was the Tigers failing to take advantage of golden opportunities to build on leads, especially against Cleveland’s bullpen, and that continued in the fourth when Joey Cantillo retired Javier Báez and Parker Meadows with two runners on base.
The Guardians made them pay when José Ramírez tied the game with an RBI single in the fourth, but that was the only runner Tigers starter Jack Flaherty allowed in his 4.2 innings of work.
Flaherty’s exit made it a bullpen game, and the visitors struck in the top of the sixth when Dingler launched a go-ahead solo homer off Cantillo.
They weren’t done, as Pérez’s two-RBI single, Torkelson’s RBI single and Riley Greene’s RBI single broke the game open in the seventh. It was a key stretch after Detroit had so many issues with runners in scoring position throughout the series.
It also provided important run support, as Cleveland struck back with two in the eighth thanks to an error by relief pitcher Will Vest.
Fortunately for the Tigers, Vest remained in the game and shut the door in the ninth to clinch the win. That bullpen, which went the final 4.1 innings, can now turn its attention toward a series with the Mariners and some dangerous hitters in Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodríguez and others.
Timely hitting and clutch pitching was the formula for Detroit in Thursday’s win and will need to be again in the AL Division Series if it is going to advance.
