MLB

Cleveland will face the New York Yankees in the Bronx starting Monday.

By TOM WITHERS, Associated Press

October 12, 2024 | 7:06 p.m

CLEVELAND (AP) — For the third time in less than a month, the Cleveland Guardians made a semicircle in the center of their clubhouse, draining each other’s bottles of champagne and beer as “Rocky Top” blared over the speakers.

The music selection is unique. That’s what this team is like.

The Guardians are a surprise in October.

Lane Thomas hit a grand slam off Detroit star Tarik Skubal and the Guardians, who have won all season with timely hits and a shutdown bullpen, followed that script for a 7-3 victory over the Tigers in Game 5 of their AL Division Series on Saturday.

Next up for Cleveland is the New York Yankees, in an AL Championship Series between two teams whose paths have crossed six times in the playoffs. Their last meeting came in 2022, with the Yankees winning their ALDS in five games.

Game 1 takes place on Monday in the Bronx.

With a payroll of $109 million, the Guardians are an oddity in baseball’s bottom four – the little guys taking on the big-spending Yankees, Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers.

It’s Cleveland against the world.

“We’re playing a very, very good Yankees team,” said Stephen Vogt, the Guardians’ first-year manager. “We saw them in the regular season. This is one of the most talented teams in the league. So we know we have a lot of work to do.”

Thomas had five RBIs for the Guardians, who was not expected to start this season. But they won the difficult AL Central under Vogt and gave the franchise a chance to end its World Series title drought that lasted until 1948.

“We are one step closer. The closer you get to the game, the more you want to win,” All-Star third baseman José Ramírez said through an interpreter. “And we want to win it for the city.”

The Guardians had to defeat Skubal, the leading candidate for the AL Cy Young Award, to advance. The left-hander hadn’t given up a run in 28 consecutive innings – 17 this postseason – before the Guardians tagged him for five runs in the fifth, the most he allowed in 2024.

“They wanted to play against him today,” Vogt said. “And if you’re not fully convinced that you’re going to win, you don’t show up on the field. That’s been our approach all year and we’re not going to stop now.”

Cleveland constructed its big inning off Skubal with the team’s familiar, hard-hitting style called “Guards Ball,” allowing three singles – an infield roller – to load the bases before Skubal hit Ramírez left-handed to force a run.

“That’s us,” said Vogt. “This is the group that has been in this room all year. As soon as we get a hit, we respond. That’s been our MO all year – as soon as we give up a run, our guys come right back.”

That brought up Thomas, who hit a three-run home run in Cleveland’s 7-0 win in Game 1.

The center fielder, who struggled in his first month with the Guardians after being traded to Washington in July, scored on Skubal’s first pitch, sending it just over the 19-foot wall in left center field.

When the ball landed, the Guardians’ dugout emptied and the screaming, red-clad crowd at Progressive Field erupted in cheers.

It was another monster moment for Tennessee native Thomas and the reason the club added “Rocky Top” to its postgame playlist.

“I definitely had some issues in the first two weeks or maybe even this month,” Thomas said of his rocky start in Cleveland. “I’m just grateful that they kind of stuck with me and allowed me to get on my feet and kept giving me hits. It felt good to somehow get through the end of September and of course in the playoffs.”

The home run was a rare misstep in a dominant season for Skubal.

“It was a pitch,” Skubal said. “I would like it back. But what a swing. Right now you’re thinking about executing the pitch and I haven’t. It’s going to sting a little bit, and it should.”

As he has done all season, Vogt leaned on his MLB-best bullpen, which was showing some signs of wear and tear.

After Thomas hit his home run, the Tigers threatened in the sixth, scoring a run on a single by Jake Rogers and loading the bases with two outs. But Hunter Gaddis struck out Kerry Carpenter, who won Game 2 with a three-run home run in the ninth.

However, the Tigers continued to fight and got to 5-3 thanks to Colt Keith’s one-out RBI double in the seventh. Eli Morgan came on for Cleveland and struck out both batters he faced.

Thomas hit an RBI single in the seventh to put the Guardians ahead by three, and Vogt turned to All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase, the AL’s saves leader, in the eighth to keep the Tigers at bay.

Clase threw one 100 mph fastball after another, getting the final six outs. When he retired Keith to first with a routine grounder, the Guardians could finally breathe a sigh of relief and plan for their first ALCS trip since 2016.

“These moments are made for confidence,” Clase said through an interpreter. “I feel like I’m made for this.”

Skubal lost for the first time since Aug. 2, and the Tigers, who missed a chance to knock off the Guardians at Comerica Park on Thursday, ended their unimaginable late-season push in disappointment.

“I have a heartbroken team for all the right reasons,” said Detroit manager AJ Hinch, who pushed all the right buttons down the stretch. “I mean, we gave it everything we could against a really good team and we didn’t want the season to end so abruptly.”

Detroit was out of contention in August, regrouped and reordered its season. Buoyed by some kids they brought up from the minors, the Tigers took off, posting a 31-13 record after Aug. 11 to clinch a spot in the postseason — one of three AL Central teams to do so have managed it.

They defeated Houston in the wild card round before facing Cleveland in the postseason for the first time in more than 2,300 games between the franchises.

The Guardians took first place in April and never let go. Cleveland became one of the biggest surprises of the season, winning 92 games under Vogt, a former journeyman catcher who had no prior managerial experience.

Before the game, Vogt was confident that his team was not finished yet.

“It feels like we’re going to New York,” Vogt said.

The guards are on the way.