Errors Doom Guardians In Game One Of Wild Card Series

After an historical comeback in the regular season, the newly crowned Central Division Champion Cleveland Guardians hosted the Detroit Tigers in game one of the wild card series. With so much excitement in the air on Tuesday afternoon, 26 thousand fans filed into Progressive Field with anticipation.

The afternoon started with a rematch from a week ago as Detroit ace Tarik Skubal wanted to come out strong and redeem himself after the tough loss in Cleveland to end his regular season. Cleveland sent Gavin Williams to the mound, who had been on fire the last couple of months of the regular season.

The top of the 1st inning started off with a huge single off an error, advanced to second by Detroit’s Kerry Carpenter. Spencer Torkelson would drive in Carpenter on an RBI single, giving the Tigers a 1-0 lead after one.

Unfortunately, the Guardians were plagued by errors and mistakes all afternoon. This would set up Tarik Skubal to have a fantastic outing in return. Skubal tied the Detroit franchise record with 14 strikeouts, a record that had been held alone since 1972. Tarik Skubal’s command made it difficult for Cleveland to hit their way back into the game.

Cleveland did get on the board thanks to an infield RBI single by Gabriel Arias, with Angel Martinez tying the game at 1-1 after the fourth. Tarik Skubal would not let this phase him one bit, allowing him to go 7 and 2/3 innings.

The Guardians had a huge opportunity to tie the game as a throwing error by the Tigers' shortstop that passed first base allowed Jose Ramirez to race around to third base with no one out to start the bottom of the ninth. Detroit closer Will Vest didn't let it phase him, knowing his team was counting on him to close this out. On a fielder’s choice out, Jose Ramirez proved he is human after all by making a bad read on the ground ball in the infield, allowing the Tigers to tag him out halfway to home plate. This mistake doomed any chance of a Guardians comeback. Vest then made quick work of the other two outs and closed out game one, ultimately giving Detroit a 2-1 win and one game series lead in the wild card series. Tarik Skubal was credited with the win while Gavin Williams, despite giving up zero earned runs, takes the loss.

Game two will take place at 1 PM on Wednesday right back at Progressive Field on ESPN.