CLEVELAND — Who said the bye week comes with some rust?
The Guardians were adamant that they created as realistic of an environment as possible in their simulated games this week, as the Tigers were playing in a high-intensity atmosphere in the AL Wild Card Series at Minute Maid Park. Piped-in crowd music blasted through the Progressive Field PA system. Austin Hedges was taunting his teammates to stir the pot. Pitchers were not taking it easy on their hitters.
Apparently, it worked.
The Guardians unleashed for an explosive first inning, scoring five runs before even recording an out in Game 1 of the American League Division Series on Saturday afternoon at Progressive Field. After two scrappy runs, it was Cleveland’s Trade Deadline acquisition Lane Thomas who sent a monster, three-run shot into the bleachers to make the Guardians the first AL team to score five runs before recording an out in a playoff game. The only other team to do it was the D-backs last year against the Dodgers in an 11-2 win in Game 1 of the NLDS, which they went on to sweep in three games.
Tigers opener Tyler Holton faced just four hitters without recording an out before he was pulled from the game. Only 10 other pitchers have failed to record an out in a postseason start, though one of those was Wade Miley, who was planned to have that short of an outing, in the 2018 NLCS. The others include Mike Clevinger (2022), Al Leiter (1999), Bob Welch (1981), Dennis Leonard (1976), Bob Moose (1972), Harry Taylor (1947), Hank Borowy (1945), Charlie Root (1935) and Reb Russell (1917).
It all started with Steven Kwan. The Guardians knew they needed their leadoff hitter healthy, both physically and mentally, after a grueling second half of the season. He returned from the injured list in the final week of the regular season and looked more like himself at the plate, leaving everyone in the organization optimistic that he’d re-establish himself as the spark plug at the top of the order for the playoffs.
On the second pitch of the game off Holton, Kwan hit a double off the top of the right-field wall, firing up his dugout. David Fry drew an eight-pitch walk. José Ramírez reached on an error by Detroit third baseman Zach McKinstry, allowing the first run to score. With the infield in, Josh Naylor singled through the right side to plate the second run. Then, Thomas did what the Guardians acquired him to do to keep the scoring party going. It wasn’t until the seventh batter that Cleveland recorded its first out of the game.
The only other game in which Cleveland has scored five runs in the first inning of a postseason game was one that they lost: Game 1 of the 1997 ALDS against the Yankees in New York. The club went on to win the series, however, 3-2.
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