Written in SPORTS on 10/12/2024 · 16:49 hs
AP.- Lane Thomas he hit a grand slam against Tarik Skubal and Cleveland beat the Detroit Tigers 7-3 in the fifth game of the American League division series, bringing the Guardians advanced in the postseason for face the Yankees.
Cleveland will face the Manhattan Mules in the American Championship Series, There will be a duel between two teams that have met six times in October. The last time was in 2022 when the Yankees They took the division series in five games. The Championship Series begins Monday in the Bronx.
Thomas had five RBIs for the Guardians, who did not expect to compete this season. But the team won a difficult AL Central division under the command of first-year manager Stephen Vogt. cleveland is still alive in his attempt to end his title drought World Series dating back to 1948.
“We are getting one step closer. Every time you get one step closer, that’s when you want to win the most,” said the star third baseman. Dominican José Ramírez in Cleveland’s champagne-soaked clubhouse. “And we want to win for the city.”
The Guardians had to beat Skubal, who is a candidate to win the AL Cy Young, to continue on his way. The left-hander had not allowed a run in 24 consecutive innings, 17 in the playoffs, before Cleveland He added five in the fifth inning, the most he allowed in 2024.
And the Guardians They did it with their well-known and brave style called ‘Guards Ball’, with three singles to load the bases before Skubal will hit the Dominican José Ramírez in the hand left to force a run.
“That’s who we are,” he said. Vogt. “That’s what the group in that room has been all year. As soon as we receive the blow, we respond. That has been our motto all year, as soon as we receive a run, our boys recover immediately.”
This led to the plate Thomas, who hit a three-run homer in Cleveland’s 7-0 victory in the first game.
The center fielder, who struggled in his first month with the team after arriving in a July trade from Washington, connected on Skubal’s first pitch and his hit cleared the wall of more than five meters in left field.
When the ball fell, The Guardians dugout emptied and they started screaming. while the fans in the Progressive Field burst with joy.
For the Tigers, Dominican Wenceel Pérez 4-0. For the Guardians, Dominican José Ramírez was 2-1 with one run scored and one RBI. Venezuelan Andrés Giménez 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
