Guardians Flip The Script On Tigers In ALDS Victory

The Cleveland Guardians bullpen was key in their Game 5 victory over the Detroit Tigers in the ALDS.

Oct 12, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians pitcher Emmanuel Clase (48) reacts after a strike out in the eighth inning against the Detroit Tigers during game five of the ALDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images / Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

Stephen Vogt and Matthew Boyd were asked before Game 2 if the Cleveland Guardians bullpen had a nickname, given how dominant they've been all season. Both declined to give the group a moniker, and Vogt said, " I haven't heard of one. I just know that I like them. I'm a big fan."

The Detroit Tigers, who also had one of the top reliever cores during the regular season, were given the nickname "pitching chaos" because of their mob of high-level pitchers A.J. Hinch uses in games.

But the team without the nickname came out on top at the end of the ALDS. The Guardians even flipped the script on the Tigers and deployed their own version of "pitching chaos" in Game 5 when Vogt used just about every pitcher he had available.

When asked if this was the script Vogt planned to use in Game 5, Cleveland's manager said, "We had a little bit of a script, but it went pretty close."

"There was a couple times that we had to kind of go off the script, but at the same time it was watch the game, see what the game is telling us to do," said Vogt. "Matthew Boyd was outstanding. I think he could have gone longer, but we've won with our bullpen all year, and
that's been who we are."

Matthew Boyd only threw 2.0 innings until Stephen Vogt handed the ball to Cade Smith, who pitched 2.0 clean innings and only allowed one hit. He also struck out five batters, setting MLB history for the most strikeouts by a reliever in ALDS history with 12.

Another rookie reliever, Erik Sabrowski, was next up in the game, and he got out of a key jam for the Guardians. Andrew Walters, Tim Herrin, and Hunter Gaddis followed, and while they each allowed an earned run, they did their job helping Cleveland get to the ninth.

Gaddis even struck out Kerry Carpenter, with the bases loaded for the Tigers which stopped the Tigers from gaining a ton of momentum.

One pitcher who deserves a lot of credit for the Guardians' Game 5 win is Eli Morgan. He had only made two other quick appearances in the series but came into the game with a runner in second place and only one out. However, he struck out the next two batters he saw to get out of the evening.

Morgan walked one batter in the eigth inning, and that's when Vogt hadned the ball over the Emmanuel Clase to get the 2.0 innings save.

Cleveland Guardians pitcher Emmanuel Clase (48), right, celebrates as Detroit Tigers second base Colt Keith (33) grounded out at first base during the ninth inning at Game 5 of ALDS at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

On the other hand, Detroit's bullpen just looked like they ran out of steam. At the end of September, the Tigers relied on them to get to the playoffs, in the Wild Card round against the Houston Astros and here in the ALDS. Will Vest and Tyler Holton came in following Tarik Skubal's 6.0 inning start, and they combined to give up five hits and two runs after in 1.2 innings of work.

How good Cleveland's bullpen performacned was always going ot be the determing factor in how far the Guardians go in the playoffs. It's one of the main reasons they won the ALDS, and now we'll see the role they play in the Championship Series.