CLEVELAND — Guardians centerfielder Lane Thomas ended the Detroit Tigers’ season with one swing off the best pitcher in the American League. 

After cruising through a relatively smooth first four innings, Tarik Skubal, the AL pitching Triple Crown winner, found himself in trouble in the bottom of the fifth and couldn’t escape. 

Andrés Giménez, Steven Kwan and David Fry loaded the bases with one out on three singles, setting up Skubal against All-Star José Ramírez. Skubal tried to challenge Ramírez inside with a 99.9 mph fastball but hit Cleveland’s slugger on the hand to plate Cleveland’s first run and tie the game at 1.

Next up was Thomas after a mound visit, and he crushed the first pitch he saw — a 96.7 mph sinker down the middle — for a grand slam to put Cleveland ahead 5-1 and light the crowd’s fuse to stand and cheer nonstop the final four innings.

CATCHING UP: Detroit Tigers vs. Cleveland Guardians ALDS Game 5 updates

Cleveland’s five-run inning proved enough to outlast Detroit’s furious rally attempts late. The Tigers scrapped out two more runs but couldn’t catch Cleveland, ultimately falling 7-3. Skubal gave up five of the seven runs, which ties the most he allowed in a start in 2024. He pitched six innings, allowing five runs on six hits and a walk with six strikeouts.

The Tigers finished with a 90-79 record over 169 games including the seven-game postseason run (86-76 in regular season). It is the second straight time the Tigers have lost in the ALDS after making the postseason. The Guardians advance to face the New York Yankees in the ALCS, starting Monday.

Attempted comeback falls short

The Tigers got one run back in the top of the sixth inning on an RBI single from Jake Rogers and worked the bases loaded with two outs to bring slugger Kerry Carpenter up as the potential go-ahead run with the score at 5-2. But Carpenter missed on a high fastball for strike three to end the threat. 

In the seventh, Colt Keith doubled off the centerfield wall to score Riley Greene from first, but the Tigers ended the inning with a pair of strikeouts. Thomas drove in another run in the seventh inning to push Cleveland’s lead back up to 6-3.

Closer Emmanuel Clase came on with a runner on in the eighth inning for a would-be six-out save and shut down the Tigers, including striking out Carpenter to end the inning and staring him down as he walked off the mound. Cleveland added another insurance run and Clase pitched a scoreless ninth to close out the series win.

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One hamstring heroics

Carpenter’s status was in question the past 48 hours after he left Game 4 early with a hamstring injury. But the left-handed slugger was available off the bench and immediately made an impact despite still being clearly hobbled.

In the top of the fifth inning, Trey Sweeney drew a leadoff walk and Carpenter subbed in for leadoff hitter Justyn-Henry Malloy to face right-handed reliever Andrew Walters. Carpenter still had his same lightning-quick swing and connected with a Walters fastball in a 3-1 count. He drove it 370 feet to the wall in right-center field to plate Sweeney from first and briefly put the Tigers ahead, 1-0. 

Kwan’t get out

Steven Kwan earned a reputation as an absolute thorn in the Tigers’ sides for all five games. He came into Game 5 batting .500 (8-for-16) in the series and finished with a third straight three-hit game to finish 11-for-21 (.523) in the series. He set a Guardians franchise record with three straight three-hit games and for most hits in a Division Series with 11. Kwan kicked off the fifth inning rally with an opposite-field single off Skubal that snuck under Matt Vierling’s glove at third.

Kwan finished Game 5 with three hits in five appearances and two runs scored, while Thomas went 2-for-4 with five RBIs.

Kwan along with Thomas would be up for series MVP if it existed for the ALDS. Thomas had the game-winning hits in Games 1 and 5, both on massive home runs to left with runners on base, while Kwan reached base 13 times in just five games.

Couldn’t convert early

The Tigers had traffic on the basepaths in the first two innings, but couldn’t get a run across the plate against former Tiger Matthew Boyd. Justyn-Henry Malloy was hit by the first pitch of the game, and Riley Greene walked to put two runners on with one out in the first inning. But Boyd struck out Andy Ibáñez and Wenceel Pérez to end the threat. 

Parker Meadows hit a one-out double the opposite way down the line and then stole third to get a runner 90 feet away with one out, but Rogers popped out and Sweeney struck out to keep it scoreless. Boyd was pulled after the two scoreless innings with five strikeouts.

Cade Smith replaced Boyd and pitched into the fourth inning, where the Tigers created another threat. Spencer Torkelson ripped a two-out double to chase Smith and Meadows walked the next at-bat, but Rogers grounded out. 

The Tigers finished the series 5-for-46 (.108) with runners in scoring position, including 1-for-12 in Game 5. 

Jared Ramsey is a sports reporter for the Detroit Free Press covering the city’s professional teams, the state’s two flagship universities and more. Follow Jared on X @jared_ramsey22, and email him at jramsey@freepress.com.