Torkelson, Pitching Lead Detroit Tigers Past Guardians

The Detroit Tigers used their brand of pitching and a timely hit from first baseman Spencer Torkelson to earn a 3-0 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday. With the victory at Comerica Park, Detroit is now one win away from securing a spot in the American League Championship Series.

A packed house of Tigers fans roared their approval while watching Torkelson and Riley Greene drive in runs. On Thursday night, Detroit has a chance to reach the ALCS. The Tigers now lead the American League Divisional Series 2-1.

Detroit Tigers Find Ways To Win

You better believe Torkelson knows what’s at stake in Game 4

“We’re human,” he said, The Associated Press reported. “We know how close we are.”

What’s also helped the Detroit Tigers move this close to advancing is Cleveland’s total ineptness at the plate. Sure, they are getting hits here and there. Steven Kwan had three of the Guardians’ six hits on Wednesday. But none of that traffic on the basepaths has resulted in runs. The Guardians have now gone 20 innings since scoring any runs in the ALDS. It’s got to be driving Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt nuts.

On Wednesday, Cleveland left eight runners on base. That’s a sure-fire recipe for failure in clutch situations, and there’s no more clutch time than in the MLB postseason.

“Short sample size, obviously in the playoffs it’s a lot more magnified,” Cleveland pinch hitter-designated hitter David Fry said after he went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. “I think guys have hit balls hard. Balls aren’t really falling.”

Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch called on right-hander Keider Montero to start his pitching rotation. He got all three outs in the first inning, then Greene smacked a two-out RBI single for an early Detroit 1-0 lead.

Brant Hurter came on to work 3 1/3 innings, giving up five hits en route to the victory. Beau Briske went two innings and Sean Guenther followed him to get one out. Reliever Will Vest went 1 1/3 innings and Tyler Holton took care of business in the ninth inning. Holton earned the save in Game 3 for the Detroit Tigers. Cleveland didn’t get on the scoreboard and now the Guardians have to fight for their playoff lives.

Cleveland Guardians Had Their Chances

It’s not that Cleveland didn’t have a chance to score. With two outs in the seventh inning, Fry made a bid for extra bases down the left-field line. Detroit third baseman Matt Vierling, though, jumped high and nabbed the sharp liner. After the game, Vierling knew his play meant something to the Detroit Tigers.

“He (Fry) likes to pull the ball a lot, so I was ready for anything that came my way,” Vierling said. “I didn’t have time to think. I just had to react. This is a huge victory for us, just to see the stadium and the whole city come out for the first playoff game in a decade.”

For his part, Vogt wasn’t surprised with how the Tigers rolled out their in-game strategy on Wednesday. “Nothing that happened caught us off guard,” Vogt said. “We were prepared for all of it.”

Before his sixth-inning RBI double, Torkelson had put together a pretty awful playoff stretch. He was o-for-14 with nine strikeouts in games involving Houston and Cleveland. “In the playoffs, you don’t get caught up in the numbers, you’re just trying to win and we’re doing that,” Torkelson said. “It felt pretty good to come through there.”

Right-hander Tanner Bibee will get the Game 4 start for Cleveland. For Detroit, expect Hinch to go back and use his bullpen-by-committee style one more time.