Guardians rally for five runs in eighth inning to beat Tigers, 6-1, and force deciding Game 3 in wild card series
Updated: Oct. 01, 2025, 7:30 p.m.|Published: Oct. 01, 2025, 4:25 p.m.
By Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio — A baseball season, especially in the postseason, does not stroll quietly into the good night. Unless it happens to belong to the last team standing, it almost always ends with a sudden impact and squealing tires.
Put the sudden impact and burning rubber on hold for at least one more day. The Guardians just climbed back into the driver’s seat.
On a day when Chase DeLauter, the first player in franchise history to make his big league debut in the postseason, caught most of the fly balls hit his way, the Guardians’ silent offense erupted for five runs in the eighth inning to beat the Tigers, 6-1.
The AL wild card series will now be decided a winner-take-all Game 3 on Thursday.
Brayan Rocchio, who goes simply by “Rocctober” at this time of the year, broke a tense 1-1 tie with a one-out homer off Troy Melton in the eighth. That’s when the offense finally found its stride on a windy Wednesday at Progressive Field.
It was Rocchio’s homer in the 10th inning on Sunday that clinched the AL Central for the Guardians on the final day of the regular season. So Wednesday’s setting fit him perfectly
“I was lucky enough to face Melton a couple of times in Triple-A,” said Rocchio, through interpreter Agustine Rivero. “When a guy is throwing 100 mph, you just try to keep things simple.
“Jose (Ramirez) told me to look for the fastball and that’s what I did.”
Rocchio hit an 0-2 fastball from Melton that crossed the plate at 100 mph.
Ramirez on Sept. 18 hit a game-winning two-run homer off Melton in the seventh inning of a 3-1 win at Comerica Park.
Steven Kwan, in a 2-for-26 skid, followed Rocchio with a double. Daniel Scheemann, in a 10-for-82 slump, doubled him home, and Ramírez was intentionally walked.
Brant Hurter relieved for Detroit, but Bo Naylor greeted him with a three-run homer into the right field seats as the crowd of 25,659 roared like 50,000.
“It was a frustrating day for us offensively,” said manager Stephen Vogt. “For our guys to explode like that felt really good.”
Since the current three-team wild card system was implemented in 2020, only two teams have comeback to win the best-of-three series after losing Game 1. Can the Guardians make it three?
“Our back was against the wall today and it’s still against the wall,” said Vogt. “We’re going to come out ready to go and so will they. It’s going to be another dogfight. I guarantee it.”
The Guardians took a 1-0 lead in the first inning against Detroit starter Casey Mize on a George Valera homer with one out. Valera hit a 3-2 pitch over the wall in center field for his third homer since being recalled from the minors on Sept. 1.
Guardians starter Tanner Bibee made that lead stand until he ran into control problems in the fourth inning. With Riley Greene on second, and two out, he walked Dillon Dingler and Zach McKinstry to load the bases. Javier Baez, the No. 9 hitter, singled into center field to score Greene and apparently Dingler for a 2-1 lead.
However, DeLauter, who had dropped the first ball hit to him in the first inning for an error, threw a strike to Ramírez at third to get McKinstry. Third base umpire Stu Scheurwater called McKinstry safe, but the Guardians challenged the call.
The safe call was overturned, which in turn took Dingler’s run off the board because it was determined that the out at third was made before Dingler had scored.
“Credit Gunnar (Wilhelym) our replay coordinator,” said Vogt. “He does an outstanding job. I don’t have any eyes on it. He said challenge the play and the run didn’t score.
“That’s why I went out there to tell the umpires, ”Hey, that run did not score. Can you make sure they check on that?’"
Bibee came out for the fifth, but he was removed with two out and two on as lefty Erik Sabrowski relieved to end the inning. In his last three starts, all against the Tigers, Bibee went 2-0, while allowing three runs in 16 2/3 innings. He struck out six, walked three and allowed one run in 4 2/3 innings Wednesday.
“With the score today, I was all about run prevention,” said Bibee. “There were a couple of innings where I shot myself in the foot with walks, but in that situation, in such a close gamre, preventing runs is the key moment.
“Especially with our bulllpen being good as it has been.”
Sabrowski, Hunter Gaddis, Tim Herrin, Jakob Junis and Cade Smith combined to pitch 4 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of Gaddis.
The Guardians made it to the postseason despite having their lowest team batting average in team history at .226. For the first seven innings they scored one run on two hits after losing Game 1 of the wild card series, 2-1, on Tuesday with just four hits.
The Tigers had numerous chances, but the Guardians’ bullpen stopped them.
In the sixth, they had runners on first and second with two out when Parker Meadows sent a fly ball to DeLauter. He made an awkward-looking catch to end the inning.
Gaddis retired Spencer Torkelson on a fly ball to short left field, and Herrin relieved to strike out pinch-hitter Jahmai Jones and Wenceel Perez. Herrin battled Perez through a seven-pitch at-bat before getting the strikeout.
The Guardians and Tigers have played 15 times this season, 13 in the regular season and twice in the wild card. The Guardians h old a 9-6 lead.
Next
RHP Slade Cecconi (7-7, 4.30) vs. RHP Jack Flaherty (8-15, 4.64) Thursday at 1:08 p.m. Game time is subject to change. ESPN, WTAM, WMMS and the Guardians radio network will carry the game.
<
CONDENSED GAME 2 OF THE PLAYOFFS
https://www.mlb.com/video/condensed-gam ... nsed-games
<