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Detroit Tigers squander chances, then crumble as Guardians force Game 3 with 6-1 win
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- Detroit Tigers squander chances, then crumble as Guardians force Game 3 with 6-1 win
CLEVELAND — The Detroit Tigers wasted so many chances.
The chance that mattered most: The Tigers could've advanced in the MLB playoffs, but their lack of clutch hitting let the Cleveland Guardians hang around long enough to force Game 3 in the best-of-three American League wild-card series.
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The Tigers lost, 6-1, to the Guardians on Wednesday, Oct. 1, in Game 2 at Progressive Field. The Guardians scored five runs in the eighth inning, including four runs charged to right-handed reliever Troy Melton .
For the go-ahead run, Brayan Rocchio hit a solo home run off Melton's 99.9 mph fastball with two strikes and one out.
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With the loss, the Tigers (1-1) and Guardians (1-1) meet again Thursday (3:08 p.m., ABC) in Game 3, with the winner advancing to the best-of-five ALDS against the Seattle Mariners , beginning Saturday at T-Mobile Park in Seattle. Right-hander Jack Flaherty is starting for the Tigers, opposed by Guardians right-hander Slade Cecconi.
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During the first two games, the Tigers' offense went 2-for-23 with runners in scoring position and stranded 21 runners, including 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position and 15 runners stranded throughout Game 2.
Until Melton, the Tigers' bullpen kept the offense in the game with scoreless efforts from left-handed reliever Tyler Holton (2⅓ innings) and right-handed reliever Kyle Finnegan (1⅔ innings), only for the offense to fail.
In the eighth inning, Melton surrendered a solo home run to Rocchio on a two-strike fastball. He threw the 99.9 mph fastball down the middle of the strike zone, and Rocchio timed up the heater for a go-ahead homer to right field.
The Guardians took a 2-1 lead on Rocchio's homer.
After the homer, the Guardians piled on four more runs in the eighth with back-to-back doubles from Steven Kwan and Daniel Schneemann off Melton for a 3-1 lead, followed by Bo Naylor 's three-run home run off left-handed reliever Brant Hurter for a 6-1 lead.
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Stranding 15 runners
For three weeks, the Tigers have been squandering scoring opportunities.
The problem appeared in the first inning after the Tigers put runners on first and second base with no outs against right-hander Tanner Bibee . Misplays from the Guardians, including a fielding error by center fielder Chase DeLauter on a routine fly ball, sparked the early action for the Tigers.
In Wednesday's game, DeLauter became the sixth player to make his MLB debut in the postseason — and the first player to accomplish the feat since 2020.
The next three batters didn't do anything productive.
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Kerry Carpenter struck out looking on a middle-up changeup; Spencer Torkelson struck out swinging on a middle-middle cutter; Riley Greene struck out swinging on an up-and-away changeup.
The Tigers nearly stranded the bases loaded in the fourth inning after Greene's double, Dillon Dingler 's walk and Zach McKinstry 's walk, but Javier Báez saved the inning. He didn't try to do too much with two outs and delivered a much-needed RBI single off Bibee's second-pitch fastball.
The Báez single tied the game, 1-1.
On the play, McKinstry got thrown out on a one-hop throw from DeLauter while advancing to third base, ending the fourth inning. He was initially ruled safe, but replay review overturned the call. As a result, the second run that had scored didn't count .
In the seventh inning, the Tigers stranded runners on the corners with no outs after Torres' hit-by-pitch and Carpenter's single. The next three batters: Torkelson flew out; Jahmai Jones struck out; Wenceel Pérez struck out.
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A rare moment happened with one out in the seventh.
Greene was removed from the game.
The Tigers used Jones as a pinch-hitter for Greene when the Guardians turned to left-handed reliever Tim Herrin , but Jones struck out swinging on a full-count curveball below the strike zone, then Pérez struck out swinging on an extremely elevated fastball.
Greene, a two-time All-Star, hit .218 with a .620 OPS against left-handed pitchers in the regular season, while Jones hit .288 with a .970 OPS against lefties.
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Casey Mize starts
Right-hander Casey Mize allowed one run on one hit and two walks with one strikeout across three-plus innings, throwing 62 pitches. He exited after walking José Ramírez to open the fourth inning, replaced by Holton.
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Holton cleaned up after Mize.
It was Mize's first postseason experience of his career.
The Guardians scored their lone run off Mize with one out in the first inning, when George Valera blasted a seventh-pitch elevated fastball in the strike zone for a solo home run — the first homer of the series — to right-center field.
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The homer put the Guardians ahead, 1-0.
Three pitches before, Mize threw an elevated fastball above the zone that generated a swing and miss. On the homer, Mize's fastball stayed in the strike zone — and Valera didn't miss it.
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For the Guardians, Bibee allowed one run on five hits and three walks with six strikeouts across 4⅔ innings, throwing 87 pitches.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold .
Listen to our weekly Tigers show "Days of Roar" every Monday afternoon on Apple , Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers blow chance to advance to ALDS in 6-1 loss to Guardians
