Shattered camera sets up delay, wild sequence for Guardians-Tigers

Cleveland Guardians center fielder Angel Martinez. Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

Shattered camera sets up delay, wild sequence in Guardians-Tigers wild-card game

By Kevin Henry | Last updated Sep 30, 2025 2:42 PM ET

Late September along the Great Lakes could give plenty of reasons for a delay in the first game of the wild-card series between the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Guardians.

However, on a sun-splashed day in Cleveland, there was a surprising reason for a brief delay in the fourth inning.

Cleveland Guardians-Detroit Tigers wild-card game has memorable fourth inning

In the bottom of the fourth, with the visiting Tigers holding a 1-0 lead, Angel Martinez fouled a 100.2 mph pitch from Detroit starter Tarik Skubal straight back. The foul ball not only moved the count to 1-2 but also shattered one of the cameras keeping track of the action behind the plate.

Listen below, and you can hear the destruction. You'll also see the reactions of Martinez, home plate umpire Shane Livensparger and Detroit catcher Dillon Dingler when they hear the noise of the camera shattering.

VOLUME UP pic.twitter.com/qoAMecIJcK
— MLB (@MLB) September 30, 2025

After a brief delay where the grounds crew was summoned to clean up the broken glass behind home plate, Martinez would battle back against Skubal and single to kick-start the Cleveland offense. Jose Ramirez followed the single by Martinez with a walk, and after a pair of strikeouts, Gabriel Arias would come through with an RBI single on a high chopper that just evaded Skubal's grasp. After the American League Cy Young favorite fielded the ball and fired home, Martinez just slid in under Dingler's tag to knot the game at 1-1.

The @CleGuardians tie the game on a WILD play at the plate! #Postseason pic.twitter.com/c3GIZO4PnE
— MLB (@MLB) September 30, 2025

In a season where anything has been possible in Cleveland, it should be no surprise that a wild fourth inning would help the Guardians knot the opening wild-card game against the Tigers. Cleveland has benefited from plenty of things going its way in a September where it made up 10.5 games on the Tigers in the AL Central standings and eventually grabbed the division crown. That comeback not only earned the Guardians the division title but also the right to host the best-of-three wild-card series.

Kevin Henry

A member of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA), Kevin Henry has been covering MLB and MiLB for nearly two decades. Those assignments have included All-Star Games and the MLB postseason, including the World Series. Based in the Denver area, Kevin calls Coors Field his home base, but travels throughout North America during the season to discover the best stories possible

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