2025 American League Wild Card Series 1

2025 American League Wild Card Series

Detroit Tigers 87 - 75 in the AL	2 - 1 Series Summary	Cleveland Guardians 88 - 74 in the AL

Overview[edit]

The first Wild Card Series of 2025 featured two teams very familiar with one another. Not only were the Cleveland Guardians and the Detroit Tigers division rivals, but had the two teams had met in the Division Series the year before, then had played out an epic dividion title race that went down to the final game this season. The Guardians had come out on top of that race after trailing by as many as 15 1/2 games in July, and 10 games in early September, but the clocks were set back to zero for this series.

The Teams[edit]

Managers: Guardians: Stephen Vogt | Tigers: A.J. Hinch

Guardians

Tigers

Umpires[edit]

Shane Livensparger, Adam Beck, David Rackley, Vic Carapazza (crew chief), Stu Scheurwater and Carlos Torres

Series results[edit]

Game	Score	Date	Starters	Time (ET)
1	Detroit Tigers 2 Cleveland Guardians 1	September 30	Tarik Skubal (1-0) Gavin Williams (0-1)	1:08 pm
2	Detroit Tigers 1 Cleveland Guardians 6	October 1	Casey Mize (0-0) Tanner Bibee (0-0)	1:08 pm
3	Detroit Tigers 6 Cleveland Guardians 3	October 2	Jack Flaherty (0-0) Slade Cecconi (0-0)	3:08 pm

Results[edit]

Game 1 @ Progressive Field[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Tigers	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	5	1
Guardians	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	2
WP: Tarik Skubal (1-0); LP: Gavin Williams (0-1); SV: Will Vest (1)
Home Runs: none

Attendance: 26,186

Game 1 had all of the markings of a pitchers' duel on paper, and that is exactly what happened with Tarik Skubal, the defending Cy Young Award winner and the ERA champion both this year and last starting for the Tigers, and Gavin Williams, one of the best pitchers in the American League over the second half, for the Guardians. With both teams not known for scoring lots of runs, the game was indeed a low-scoring affair, with two of the three runs scoring on balls that never left the infield, and only one of the runs being earned. The game was played at a brisk pace on a beautiful sunny afternoon in Cleveland.

The Tigers got on the board first after Williams had gotten outs on his first two pitches in the 1st inning. Kerry Carpenter hit a single, which was misplayed by RF Johnathan Rodríguez, allowing Carpenter to reach second base. Spencer Torkelson followed with a single and Detroit was up, 1-0. There was no more scoring until the 4th, although Williams put himself in trouble in the 3rd by allowing the first two batters to reach, on a single and a walk, on which he was unhappy with home plate umpire Shane Livensparger's calls. He settled down to get Gleyber Torres to ground into a double play and struck out Carpenter to escape the inning, however. In the bottom of the 4th. Cleveland tied the score without hitting the ball out of the infield. Angel Martínez led off with an infield single and José Ramírez drew a walk from Skubal, who then struck out the next two batters. Gabriel Arias hit a high bouncer over the pitcher's head, and Martínez raced for home. He was originally called out by Livensparger, but after a video review, it was clear that he had managed to slide his hand under C Dillon Dingler's tag. With Ramírez on third base, Brayan Rocchio then tried to surprise the Tigers with a bunt, but it was fielded by Skubal, who threw to first base to end the inning.

The two starting pitchers continued to muzzle their opponents over the next two innings, but in the 7th, Riley Greene led off with a double for the Tigers - the only extra-base hit of the game. The next batter, Wenceel Perez, hit a ball to Rocchio at second base, who had to reach to his right. He made a good throw to first base, but converted outfielder Jhonkensy Noel had trouble with his footwork, failing to touch the bag, and everyone was safe. That was it for Williams, who gave way to Hunter Gaddis. He struck out Dingler for the first out, but Zach McKinstry followed with a beautiful bunt down the first base line, and Noel's only play was to throw to Rocchio at first base. Greene scored another unearned run, and it would prove to be the difference. Both teams' pitchers then were dominant over the next two half innings, with Detroit manager A.J. Hinch declining to use a pinch-hitter for Carpenter in the 8th against lefty Erik Sabrowski, with the result being a strikeout that anyone could have anticipated. In the bottom of the 8th, Skubal came back out even though he was nearing 100 pitches. He struck out Noel but walked Austin Hedges, a notoriously weak hitter, to face Steven Kwan, who hit the ball back to Skubal for the second out. That was the end for Detroit's ace, who had struck out 14 batters in his 7 2/3 innings; he gave way to Will Vest. Stephen Vogt replied by sending Bo Naylor to pinch hit for Martínez, but with the tying run on second base, Naylor could do no better than hit a grounder to first.

In the 9th inning, Vogt sent in his closer, Cade Smith, to keep Detroit from adding to its lead. It almost backfired, as Smith hit Torkelson with his first pitch, then walked Greene. In a play typical of postseason baseball, Perez followed with a sacrifice bunt, but Dingler hit a soft liner to second base for the second out. Smith then struck out McKinstry and it was still 2-1 heading into the bottom of the 9th. Vest was back on the mound, and he got Ramírez to hit a grounder to SS Javier Baez, but his throw to first handcuffed Torkelson on a short hop, the ball got by him and Ramírez ended up on third base with no one out. Vogt then sent in rookie George Valera to pinch hit for Rodriguez, but he struck out. Next up was Kyle Manzardo, who hit a grounder to P Vest. Ramírez had taken too much of a lead and was caught in no man's land between third and home, and was tagged easily by Vest himself. That out took the wind out of Cleveland's sails. The next batter, another rookie pinch-hitter in C.J. Kayfus, hit a soft fly to Baez, and that was the game.

Game 2 @ Progressive Field[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Tigers	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	7	0
Guardians	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	x	6	0	0
WP: Cade Smith (1-0); LP: Troy Melton (0-1)
Home Runs: CLE - George Valera (1), Brayan Rocchio (1), Bo Naylor (1)

Attendance: 26,669

Game 2 was another tense low-scoring affair - at least until the 8th inning, although this time the game was not dominated by the two starting pitchers. Neither Tanner Bibee for Cleveland nor Casey Mize for Detroit got past the 5th inning, even though each one only gave up one run. Both managers came into the game ready to use their bullpen arms, and they both did so, with a total of 11 pitchers taking a turn during the game. Detroit used the same line-up as in Game 1, but for Cleveland, there were wholesale changes, as Stephen Vogt loaded his batting order with lefthanded hitters, including naming Chase DeLauter, who had not yet made his major league debut, as his starting centerfielder.

While each team scored only once during the first seven innings, it does not mean that the chances were equal: the Tigers put a ton of runners on base, but never got the hit that would have broken the Guardians' backs. When the game ended, they had stranded a staggering 15 baserunners and scored only once. In contrast, Cleveland made its few baserunners count. Detroit started off strong in the 1st inning, as Parker Meadows led off with a single to 2B Brayan Rocchio and Gleyber Torres followed by lifting a fly ball to center field. The bright sun and strong wind made that fly ball anything but routine, and DeLauter, playing his first game since July, was fooled by its movement, letting it hit his glove and fall to the ground for an error. It was a rough introduction to the majors, but Bibee bailed him out with some great pitching, by striking out Kerry Carpenter, Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene consecutively to end the inning without further damage. In the bottom of the inning, George Valera, who had struck out as a pinch-hitter at a key moment of Game 1, got his revenge by hitting a homer off Mize, putting Cleveland in the lead for the first time of the series. However, that would be the only hit allowed by Mize in three innings.

Bibee got his only 1-2-3 inning in the 2nd, but after that, he had to work out of trouble every frame. In the 3rd, he stranded Torres in scoring position, and in the 4th, the Tigers loaded the bases with a double and a pair of walks after two outs. That brought up Javier Baez, who singled to center field. DeLauter atoned for his 1st-inning error by making a strong throw to third base, although the initial call was that Zach McKinstry had made it safely and two runs had scored. The Guardians appealed for a video review, however, and in a major reversal of fortune, McKinstry was called out, and it was also determined that Dillon Dingler had not yet crossed the plate by the time the tag was made, so Detroit was only credited with one run. It was immediately clear to everyone that this play would a major turning point in the game. Detroit kept putting men on base over the next few innings, but never got the hit they needed to push them across. In the 5th, Bibee put two more men on base before giving way to Erik Sabrowski, who got Riley Greene to fly out to end the inning. In the 6th, it was Meadows who flied out with two men on to end the inning, and in the 7th, Tim Herrin recorded a pair of strikeouts with two men on base. In the meantime, A.J. Hinch had removed Mize early, after he had issued a lead-off walk to José Ramírez in the 4th, replacing him with lefty Tyler Holton to take advantage of a lefty-heavy lineup. Vogt made a number of changes to compensate, but Cleveland was unable to generate any offense until the 8th.

In the fateful 8th inning, Cade Smith came in with two outs in the top half to strike out Meadows with the potential go-ahead run on second base. Then in the bottom of the frame, Troy Melton gave up a homer to Rocchio, not normally a power hitter, as Cleveland took the lead. But the inning was not over. Steven Kwan and Daniel Schneemann followed with back-to-back doubles to make it 3-1, then after an intentional walk to Ramírez, Brant Hurter came in to try to limit the damage. He got Kyle Manzardo to ground out for the second out, but Bo Naylor then put the game out of reach by hitting Cleveland's third homer of the game, increasing the lead to 6-1. That extra cushion proved useful, as Smith made things interesting in the 9th. After one out, he walked Carpenter, then hit Torkelson with a pitch. Smith struck out pinch-hitter Justyn-Henry Malloy for the second out, but Wenceel Perez reached on an error by Rocchio, loading the bases. It was up to Dingler, but he hit a soft liner to first baseman C.J. Kayfus to end the game and force a decisive Game 3.

Game 3 @ Progressive Field[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Tigers	0	0	1	0	0	1	4	0	0	6	10	1
Guardians	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	3	6	0
WP: Kyle Finnegan (1-0); LP: Joey Cantillo (0-1)
Home Runs: DET - Dillon Dingler (1)

Attendance: 29,891

The Tigers took revenge on the Guardians for depriving them of a division title by eliminating them with a win in Game 3. The game followed a script similar to Game 2 for the first five innings, with Cleveland going to its bullpen early while Detroit kept stranding runners on base, and the two teams remaining tied in a low-scoring affair as a result. A home run by Ohio native Dillon Dingler opened things up in the 6th, and in the 7th the Tigers were finally able to get some clutch hits, resulting in four runs that basically put the game away. The Guardians managed a couple of runs in the 8th, but it only brought them within three of their opponents. On the mound, the veteran Jack Flaherty was starting for Detroit against young Slade Cecconi, who was always going to be removed at the first sign of trouble.

The game started quietly, with no scoring in the first two innings, before the Tigers began to stir in the 3rd. Parker Meadows, moved from the leadoff spot to ninth for this game, hit a one-out single and moved to third on a single by Gleyber Torres. That was enough to bring Cecconi's day to an end, as he gave way to Tim Herrin, the first of a parade of seven relievers that Stephen Vogt would use in the game. Kerry Carpenter then hit a ball just inside the first base bag that deflected off 1B C.J. Kayfus's glove, and by the time the Guardians' defenders could recover it, he was on second, Meadows had scored and Torres was on third. However, in a very familiar scenario from the first two games, the Tigers once again wasted a chance to break the game open, as Wenceel Perez popped up and Spencer Torkelson struck out. Flaherty pitched a third straight scoreless inning in the bottom of the 3rd, and rookie Joey Cantillo came on for Cleveland in the 4th, giving up a single and a walk, but once again stranding two Tigers on the bases. Cleveland then evened the score as George Valera led off the bottom of the 4th with a double and José Ramírez followed with a single to drive him in. However, Ramírez was caught stealing second and a walk to Kyle Manzardo was followed by Chase DeLauter grounding into a double play. In the 5th, Cantillo induced a double play grounder in the top of the inning, but Flaherty was replaced after walking Kayfus with two outs. Kyle Finnegan came in to get Brayan Rocchio to ground out.

So far, the game looked like a carbon copy of Game 2, but in the 6th, the Tigers broke their pattern when Dingler homered to left with two outs. It was the first (and only) long ball of the series for Detroit, and it gave them a lead they would not relinquish. It also spelled the end of Cantillo's outing, as he was replaced by Erik Sabrowski, pitching in his third straight game, who got Zach McKinstry to ground out for the third out. Finnegan retired the Guardians in order in the bottom of the 6th, and then the Tigers broke free in the 7th. Sabrowski was still on the mound and he set up a big inning by giving up a double to Javier Baez followed by a single to Meadows, when he managed to beat out the throw to first base on an attempt at a sacrifice bunt. With runners on the corners and no one out, Hunter Gaddis came in to pitch. He got Torres to ground out, but Meadows advanced to second base, setting up an intentional walk to Carpenter. It was Perez who finally came through with a clutch hit for Detroit, after so many failed attempts by just about everyone in the line-up: he singled to right and two runs scored, making it 4-1. Once that taboo had been broken, more hits followed, with a single by Torkelson driving in a fifth run and another by Riley Greene increasing the lead to 6-1. There was still only one out, and given the Guardians' difficulties on offense, it was practically game over already. Matt Festa was asked to stop the bleeding, and he succeeded after a walk to Dingler by striking out McKinstry and getting Baez to pop up in his second at-bat of the inning.

The Guardians had only nine outs left to climb what looked like a mountain, and they couldn't accomplish against Tyler Holton in the bottom of the 7th, as a two-out single by Gabriel Arias was followed by a ground out by Bo Naylor. Jakob Junis retired the Tigers in order in the 8th and Cleveland finally scored some runs in the bottom of that inning, but they needed five to tie and only got two. With one out against Tommy Kahnle, Rocchio and Steven Kwan hit a single and double respectively, putting two runners in scoring position and ushering in closer Will Vest. He struck out Valera for the second out, but Ramírez hit a grounder to Torkelson at 1B, and Vest failed to handle his throw properly, allowing both runners to score. However, Ramírez was thrown out advancing to second on a play that required a video review to overturn the initial safe call, so the inning ended there - as did Cleveland's momentum. The Guardians then went down in order against Vest in the 9th, and that was the ballgame and the series.