CLEVELAND — You knew the Tigers couldn’t be done here that easily. Their American League Wild Card Series against the Guardians will go to a winner-take-all Game 3 on Thursday after Brayan Rocchio’s go-ahead home run ignited a five-run eighth inning that sent Detroit to a 6-1 loss in Game 2 on Wednesday afternoon at Progressive Field.
The Tigers had their chances to plate runs all afternoon, but they went 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position and left 15 runners on base. They’ll have to hope they didn’t just leave their chance at a second consecutive trip to the AL Division Series stranded in the process.
Parker Meadows’ leadoff infield single and a Chase DeLauter error on a Gleyber Torres fly ball to center field gave the Tigers a golden opportunity to strike early against Guardians starter Tanner Bibee. Once Bibee struck out Kerry Carpenter, Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene in order to end the opening inning and strand both runners, it set the tone for the rest of the afternoon.
George Valera’s home run off Tigers starter Casey Mize in the bottom of the inning gave Cleveland an early advantage, but Detroit continued to produce traffic against Bibee. Dillon Dingler and Zach McKinstry grinded out back-to-back two-out walks to load the bases in the fourth inning for Javier Báez, whose transition from big-swinging power hitter to productive groundball contact hitter paid off with a grounder through the middle.
Greene, who started the rally with a one-out double, scored on the play. But when DeLauter threw out McKinstry trying to go from first to third, he denied the Tigers a go-ahead run. Dingler had sped around third base but looked over his shoulder at the play as he was coming home, a fleeting glance that might have cost him the half-stride he needed to beat the out.
That was the Tigers’ lone hit with runners in scoring position. They left runners on first and second in the fifth and sixth innings, and they paid dearly for not converting runners at the corners with nobody out in the seventh. Guardians reliever Hunter Gaddis got a shallow fly ball to left from Torkelson, not nearly deep enough to score Torres from third. Lefty-hitting specialist Jahmai Jones pinch-hit for Greene, a rare move that reflected the urgency of the situation, but Jones — a .407 hitter with runners in scoring position in the regular season — fanned against Tim Herrin for the second out.
Once Herrin fanned Wenceel Pérez, the Tigers’ best chance to take control of the game was lost. The game followed shortly. Troy Melton, making his postseason debut, retired only one of the five batters he faced. Rocchio’s drive to right put Cleveland ahead, then Bo Naylor’s three-run homer off Brant Hurter put the game away. Detroit loaded the bases in the top of the ninth on a walk, a hit-by-pitch and a fielder’s choice, but Dingler lined out to end the game.
