Thomas' slam on Skubal helps the Guardians by Tigers advance to the ALCS

CLEVELAND – Lane Thomas hit a grand slam off Tarik Skubal and Cleveland defeated the Detroit Tigers 7-3 in Game 5 of their AL Division Series on Saturday, putting the Guardians in another postseason matchup against the Yankees.

Cleveland will face New York in the ALCS, setting up a series between two teams whose paths had already crossed six times in October. Their last meeting came in 2022, with the Yankees winning their ALDS in five games.

Game 1 takes place on Monday in the Bronx.

Thomas had five RBIs for the Guardians, who was not expected to start this season. But they won the tough AL Central under first-year coach Stephen Vogt, and Cleveland still has a chance to end its World Series title drought that lasted until 1948.

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 24 consecutive innings – 17 this postseason – before the Guardians tagged him for five runs in the fifth, tying the most runs he allowed in 2024.

And Cleveland did it with his familiar, scrappy style called “Guards Ball,” getting three singles – one of them an infield roller – to load the bases before Skubal hit All-Star José Ramírez left-handed for one Force Run.

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 from 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.

“He just threw me a pitch that I could hit,” Thomas told TBS after the game. “To his credit, he threw me a lot of pitches that were hard to hit (in my previous at-bat game).

“It only takes one.”

Thomas became the fourth player in postseason history – and the first in Cleveland – to hit a grand slam in a winner-take-all game. It was the sixth grand slam hit by a Guardians player in the postseason and the first since Francisco Lindor in 2017 against the Yankees in Game 2 of the ALDS.

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 eighth to put the Guardians ahead by three, and then Vogt turned to All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase, the AL's saves leader, 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.

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.

Detroit was out of contention in August, regrouped and reordered its season. Buoyed by some young players they brought up from the minors, the Tigers took off and went 31-13 after August 11 to clinch a postseason berth – one of three AL Central berths. Teams that made it.

They then 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.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.