Guardians advance to ALCS after thrilling win over Tigers

The Cleveland Guardians advanced to the American League Championship Series for the first time since 2016 after a thrilling 7-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Saturday.

Eight Guardians pitchers combined to allow three earned runs against the Tigers. Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase secured the win with a six-out save.

Clase also struck out Tigers slugger Kerry Carpenter with a 101-mph cutter to end the eighth inning, staring down his opponent as he walked off the field. Carpenter hit a game-winning three-run homer off Clase in Game 2 of the series.

Lane Thomas' go-ahead grand slam off Tigers ace Tarik Skubal in the fifth inning was the difference-maker. Skubal had allowed just two hits before giving up five runs in the fifth.

It was the first grand slam Skubal has allowed during his big-league career, and the first home run hit off of him since Sept. 12.

Thomas' grand slam was just the seventh in a winner-take-all postseason game, according to MLB.com's Sarah Langs. The trade-deadline acquisition was 2-for-4 in the contest with five RBIs. He also slugged .632 in the series.

Steven Kwan was tremendous yet again for the Guardians, going 3-for-5 to give him 11 hits and a 1.136 OPS in the series.

The Tigers had multiple chances to storm back against an overworked Guardians bullpen but were unable to capitalize. Hunter Gaddis ended a sixth-inning Detroit threat by striking out Carpenter with the bases loaded, and Eli Morgan stymied the Tigers an inning later to end a potential Detroit rally.

Cleveland's victory comes after an exceptional regular-season campaign under first-year manager Stephen Vogt, who's already turned his attention to the New York Yankees and the upcoming ALCS matchup.

"This is one of the most talented teams in the league, so we know we have our work cut out for us," Vogt said, according to SNY Yankees.

"We're going to enjoy tonight, but we know our work's not done. We don't want to be satisfied with this," he said. "We're not done yet."

Game 1 between the Guardians and Yankees happens Monday in New York.