CLEVELAND — The Guardians welcomed baseball's hottest team to Progressive Field, and promptly squelched them with a metaphorical bucket of cold water.
A bit odd, given it was actually Cleveland's own scorching bats and flamethrowing arms who put out the blaze, at least for now.
Following a nearly weeklong layoff, the Guards' postseason journey kicked off in grand fashion Saturday with a 7-0 win over the American League Central rival Detroit Tigers in Game 1 of the AL Division Series. Stephen Vogt's upstart bunch scored most of their runs before recording a single out, and rode their dominant pitching staff the rest of the way.
Having shocked the sports world just to make the playoffs and sweep the Houston Astros in the AL Wild Card Series, the Tigers deployed their oft-successful strategy of starting with an "opener" on the mound in lefty Tyler Holton. It did not work today, as a double by Steven Kwan, a walk by David Fry, an error by third baseman Zach McKinstry, and a base hit by Josh Naylor made it 2-0 Cleveland before anyone could take a breath.
Holton was gone after four batters, giving way to normal starter Reese Olson. The first pitch he threw was a slider right down the middle, and Lane Thomas promptly put it in the bleachers to put the Guardians on top 5-0.
It was the first postseason at-bat of Thomas' career, and it continued his torrid stretch that began in September. Though Detroit had opportunities to get on the board the rest of the afternoon, they never truly threatened again.
Tanner Bibee settled down after a 27-pitch first inning to strike out six over 4 2/3 shutout frames. While he was ineligible to get the win (and looked somewhat unhappy upon exiting before firing up the fans and getting hugged in the dugout), it was a sign of what will likely be Vogt's strategy throughout these playoffs: Lean on the best bullpen in baseball.
The gambit paid off immediately, with Cade Smith coming in and striking out Kerry Carpenter on three pitches. The rookie fireballer wound up punching out all four batters he faced and being named the winner.
In total, Smith, Tim Herrin, Hunter Gaddis, and Emmanuel Clase combined for 4 1/3 innings of hitless ball. Again, somewhat odd to use the big guns in a blowout, but Vogt took no chances, and it also gave him a chance to get the relievers some work after the six-day break.
Kwan, who came back from the injured list just before the regular season, reached base three times and scored twice. David Fry also had two hits, a run scored, and a stolen base, and drove in two more with a double in the seventh that put the game out of reach for good.
After waiting so long just to get back on the field, the Guardians... will get another off day Sunday before lacing them back up for Game 2 of the best-of-five series Monday afternoon. Former Tiger Matthew Boyd will get the start for Cleveland, while Detroit will counter with Tarik Skubal, the AL's Pitching Triple Crown winner and Cy Young favorite.
