LOS ANGELES: Cleveland’s Lane Thomas crushed a three-run home run as part of a historic five-run first inning and the Guardians powered to a 7-0 victory over the Detroit Tigers to open their Major League Baseball second-round playoff series.
Thomas belted the first pitch from Detroit reliever Reese Olson over the left field wall to put the Guardians up 5-0 without an out in the first on Saturday.
Cleveland had already roughed up Tigers starting pitcher Tyler Holton, putting their first four batters on base before Holton was pulled without recording an out.
Steven Kwan smacked a leadoff double off the top of the right field wall.
David Fry drew a walk and Jose Ramirez hit a ground ball that went through the legs of Detroit third baseman Zach McKinstry and allowed Kwan to score.
Fry scored on Josh Naylor’s single before Olson replaced Holton on the mound, a move that couldn’t prevent the Guardians becoming the first American League team to score five runs before recording an out in a playoff game.
“It was awesome,” Lane said of homering in his first post-season at-bat. “It started with the guys in front of me, so I think it wouldn’t have been possible without those guys.”
Fry delivered a two-run double off Detroit reliever Ty Madden in the sixth to push Cleveland’s lead to 7-0.
Guardians starting pitcher Tanner Bibee departed to a big ovation in the fifth inning and Cleveland’s bullpen kept the Tigers in check the rest of the way to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five AL division series.
Later Saturday, Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani was poised to make his MLB playoff debut as the Los Angeles Dodgers opened their National League division series against the San Diego Padres.
Ohtani won two American League Most Valuable Player awards in six seasons with the Los Angeles Angels but never made it to the post-season.
However, the 30-year-old has shown over and over that he can rise to the big occasion, as evidenced by his six-for-six performance with two home runs in the win over Miami in which Ohtani became the first player to record 50 homers and 50 stolen bases in the same season and helped the Dodges clinch their playoff spot.
Asked if he was feeling nervous ahead of his playoff debut, Ohtani didn’t even need to wait for his usual translation of the question.
“Nope,” he answered in English before adding through an interpreter: “It’s always been my childhood dream to be able to be in an important game.
“So I think the excitement of that is greater than anything else I could possibly feel.”
The showdown between the NL West division rivals highlights the division matchups, which also include the New York Yankees facing the Kansas City Royals and the New York Mets against the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Yankees and Royals, once fierce playoff rivals, haven’t met in the post-season since 1980.
The Yankees, driven by an MLB-leading 58 home runs from Aaron Judge, posted the best record in the American League on the way to the AL East title.
After the Yankees missed the playoffs in an injury-plagued 2023, former Rookie of the Year and 2022 AL MVP Judge is aiming to add a World Series title to his resume.
The Yankees are heavy favorites against a Royals team back in the playoffs one year after losing 106 games.
The Mets-Phillies series sees an intense NL East rivalry extended to the post-season for the first time. The Phillies went 95-67 to lock up the division crown while the Mets battled to the bitter end of the regular season to claim their playoff spot then needed three games to put away the Milwaukee Brewers in the wild card round.
