The Detroit Tigers put their late-season woes behind them and clinched the ALDS berth with a 6-3 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday, in Recreation 3 of the American League Wild Card Collection at Progressive Area. With the victory, Detroit eradicated Cleveland and can face the Seattle Mariners within the best-of-five Division Collection beginning Saturday, Oct. 4, in Seattle.
Corridor-of-fame basketball broadcaster Dick Vitale, famously often known as “Dickie V,” took to X (previously Twitter) to rejoice the win.
“It’s get together time in Motown @tigers lastly have one thing to be ok with by beating @CleGuardians 6-3 since their collapse in blowing a 15 ½ recreation lead that price them the AL Midwest division. Now they need to really feel terrific as they get able to face @Mariners,” Vitale wrote.
Detroit struck first in Recreation 3. Designated hitter Kerry Carpenter opened the scoring within the third inning with a double down the first-base line that clanged off Cleveland first baseman C.J. Kayfus’s glove. The Tigers took a 1-0 lead, although the Guardians tied the sport within the fourth when Jose Ramirez singled in a run off Detroit starter Jack Flaherty, who had allowed only one hit and no runs by way of the primary three innings.
The sport turned on its head within the last 4 innings. Dillon Dingler, the Tigers’ catcher, despatched one over the fence for a go-ahead solo house run within the sixth inning, his first hit of the postseason, crushing a middle-up changeup from left-handed reliever Joey Cantillo over the 19-foot wall in left subject. Detroit then exploded for 4 runs within the seventh. Wenceel Pérez, batting third for the sport, ripped a two-RBI single with the bases loaded, whereas Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene added RBI singles, giving the Tigers a commanding 6-1 lead. Earlier than this, Perez had solely 5 hits in his final 66 plate appearances.
The Guardians, who ranked twenty eighth in runs scored and park-adjusted offense in the course of the 2025 common season, mounted a minor comeback with two runs within the eighth inning resulting from a miscue by reliever Will Vest. Vest regained his composure and slammed the door within the ninth, maintaining the 6-3 lead intact.
Flaherty, a playoff veteran who helped the Los Angeles Dodgers win the 2024 World Collection after a midseason commerce from Detroit, completed 4⅔ innings with one run allowed on three hits and two walks, putting out 4 whereas throwing 74 pitches. He now boasts a 1.62 ERA throughout three winner-take-all postseason begins over 11 video games.
For the primary time since Sept. 10, Detroit’s offense discovered its groove, scoring greater than 5 runs and sending a transparent message to the Guardians, who famously battled again from a 15 ½ recreation deficit to win the AL Central. The Tigers will now attempt to carry this sizzling streak into Seattle in opposition to the second-seeded Mariners, hoping to interrupt by way of within the Division Collection for the primary time since 2013.