Major League Baseball’s divisional round will culminate on Saturday with Game 5 between the Detroit Tigers and the Cleveland Guardians. (The game was originally set for the evening, but had to be moved into the afternoon on account of expected inclement weather in the Cleveland area.) The winner of Saturday’s contest will advance to the American League Championship Series, where they’ll play the New York Yankees in a best-of-seven set to determine who represents the AL in the World Series.
Before we get too close to first pitch, we wanted to address one question we have concerning each team as it pertains to Game 5. With that in mind, let’s get to it.
Tigers: Can Skubal keep miracle run alive?
It’s accurate to write that no one outside of the Tigers clubhouse expected them to be a win away from playing for the pennant. That includes Detroit’s front office, the same group who spent the deadline trading away starter Jack Flaherty, outfielder Mark Canha, catcher Carson Kelly, and reliever Andrew Chafin.
The Tigers were nevertheless able to make an impressive second-half surge thanks to various factors, including creative pitching management and an improved defense. They’ve been playing with house money for weeks. Can they keep it up?
One factor working in their favor is the presence of left-hander Tarik Skubal. The AL’s expected Cy Young Award winner will make his second start of the series on Saturday. In his first turn, he threw seven shutout innings against the Guardians, holding them to three hits and no walks while striking out eight of the 23 batters he faced.
Skubal is the kind of pitcher who can almost will his team to victory in any given game by reducing the necessity for run and bullpen support to a minimum. He did it in Game 2. We’ll see if he can do it again in Game 5.
Guardians: How many pitchers?
Whereas the focus for the Tigers in Game 5 is on a single pitcher, the question we have for the Guardians is about the collective. You’ve heard the old Earl Weaver quote about momentum being the next game’s pitcher — Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt, in his first year at the helm, might say that momentum is the next inning’s pitcher.
Vogt will send veteran lefty Matthew Boyd to the bump to begin the contest. Don’t expect that to be a long-term arrangement. Boyd finished an out short of averaging five innings per pop with the Guardians during the regular season, and it’s been five weeks since he completed five frames in a single appearance.
Besides, the Guardians have used at least five pitchers in every game so far this series, with Vogt turning to six and seven pitchers for Games 2 and 3. Given what’s on the line Saturday, we expect Vogt to get plenty of steps in from trips to the mound.
