Grand slam lifts Guardians over Tigers in ALDS, setting up date with Yankees for American League pennant

The magic is over for the Detroit Tigers.

The Cleveland Guardians took the decisive Game 5 of an ALDS against the Tigers, 7-3, to head back to the American League Championship Series for the first time since 2016.

After both teams exchanged zeroes for four innings, Detroit opened up the scoring in the fifth with an RBI single from hampered pinch hitter Kerry Carpenter, which scored Trey Sweeney from first. 

In the bottom half of the inning, likely AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal proved he is human.

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Loading the bases with one out, Skubal hit Jose Ramirez to bring a runner home. On the very next pitch, he served up a grand slam to Lane Thomas to put the Guardians up, 5-1. It was the first earned run Skubal had allowed since Sept. 18.

Detroit did not go quietly, though. Jake Rogers had an RBI single in the sixth, but the Tigers squandered an opportunity when Carpenter struck out with the bases loaded to end the inning. In the seventh, Colt Keith's RBI double made it a 5-3 game, but with a man on second, Wenceel Perez and Spencer Torkelson struck out.

With Emmanuel Clase warming up in the bottom of the seventh, Thomas knocked an RBI single for some insurance. Steven Kwan scored after recording his third straight three-hit game. He's now a .392 hitter in 12 career postseason games despite going 0-for-9 in his first two. Cleveland's No. 9 hitter, Brayan Rocchio, pitched in with an RBI single of his own in the eighth for an added bonus.

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The dominant Clase entered the game in the eighth. After it became a four-run lead in the eighth, it was all but automatic. Clase got the final six outs effortlessly. The Guardians are now 76-2 this year, including the postseason, when leading after six innings.

This marks the fourth time the New York Yankees and Cleveland will meet in the postseason since 2017. The Bronx Bombers have won all three of those bouts, which were all either a division or wild-card series. This time, it will be for a pennant.

The Yankees own a 4-2 record in their six postseason series, dating back to 1997. The Yankees won the 1998 ALCS in six games en route to their historic World Series season.

Cleveland won its last trip to the ALCS eight years ago, but it fell to the Chicago Cubs in that year's World Series.

Game 1 of the ALCS will be in the Bronx Monday night at 7:37 p.m. ET.

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