Detroit Tigers matchups vs Cleveland Guardians pitchers in AL Central
On “Days of Roar,” Cleveland Guardians beat writer Paul Hoynes breaks down the starting pitchers vs. the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central showdown.
CLEVELAND — He lifted his shoulders, then dropped them.
He let out a long sigh.
And he smiled.
In that sequence, Wenceel Pérez captured the relief of the Detroit Tigers after finally ending their eight-game losing streak in a 4-2 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday, Sept. 25, at Progressive Field, boosting their postseason odds despite an improbable collapse over the past two weeks.
There are three games left in the regular season.
“This was the most important,” Pérez said after Thursday’s win, standing in front of his locker in with music playing in the clubhouse for the first time in a long time. “We forgot about the claps after you win, so it was clapping all the time. This is fun. Baseball, sometimes, is not great, but we show up every day and try to win games.”
The Tigers and Guardians are tied in the American League Central race – both at 86-73 – but the Guardians hold the tiebreaker over the Tigers. Meanwhile, the Tigers are one game ahead of the Houston Astros (85-74) for the final AL wild-card spot and hold the tiebreaker, giving them a 2025 MLB playoffs magic number of two – two Tigers wins, two Astros losses or one of each – to secure a postseason berth.
The Tigers could clinch as early as Friday night.
“We want to win as many games as we can,” manager A.J. Hinch said, “and we know if we win as many games as we can, we’re going to be fine. We have a good team. We’ve had a good team. We need to play like it. Tonight was a good example.”
If not for Pérez, the Tigers might not have won Thursday.
But Pérez wasn’t the only contributor – it was a complete win.
In the first inning, Jahmai Jones and Pérez – two of the first three batters in the lineup – hit solo home runs off Guardians left-hander Parker Messick for a 2-0 lead. For Jones, he has hit three leadoff home runs in 12 opportunities.
“We’re just focusing on one game at a time right now,” Jones said. “We’re not trying to put more pressure than what’s already there. We’re just trying to play our game and see what happens when the season ends.”
Expect to see Jones in the leadoff spot Friday and Saturday against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, as the Tigers face left-handers Kyle Harrison and Connelly Early in the first two games of their season-ending series.
Jones has become a weapon for the Tigers, thanks to a .276 batting average with all seven home runs and a .954 OPS in 115 plate appearances against left-handed pitchers.
“He’s a big spark for us because of that threat, but it’s also the quality of the at-bat,” Hinch said. “He took some close pitches. He didn’t get anxious. I’m not even sure that he was necessarily trying to hit the homer, but he tries to hit the ball hard, and when he does, it goes pretty far.”
The Tigers continued to attack Messick after the big swings from Jones and Pérez, extending their lead to 3-0 on Javier Báez‘s RBI single in the second inning and 4-1 on Riley Greene‘s solo home run in the fourth inning.
Meanwhile, the Tigers’ pitching staff shined brightest.
Right-hander Troy Melton set the tone, allowing one run on two hits and two walks with one strikeout across 3⅔ innings, throwing 49 pitches. The Tigers told the rookie he would start Thursday’s series finale after Wednesday’s 5-1 loss, even though he had worked out of the bullpen in 12 of 15 games during his rookie season.
“The only goal today was try to win the game,” said Melton, who owns a 2.76 ERA over 45⅔ innings in 16 games. “However long they needed me for, and whatever their plan was, it was out of my hands. I just tried to make as many pitches as I could and get people out. Same goal as every other game.”
After Melton, the Tigers mixed and matched their way to the finish line — just like “old times”.
Five relievers covered the final 5⅓ innings, including right-hander Will Vest in the ninth inning. He has struggled recently, but he struck out three batters in a row to protect a two-run lead and notch his 22nd save.
To celebrate, Vest pumped his fist and pounded his chest.
“It’s a nice reminder for everybody that the strategy is pretty good,” Hinch said. “We’re able to offer a lot of different looks over the course of a nine-inning game. It worked out perfectly.”
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Before Thursday’s win, the Tigers had an 80% chance to make the postseason and an 18% chance to win the AL Central, according to FanGraphs. After Thursday’s win, the postseason odds rose to 84% and the AL Central odds jumped to 31.4%.
One win can make a big difference.
One loss can do the same.
That’s why it’s important for the Tigers to win Friday’s series opener against the Red Sox, regardless of what the Guardians and Astros do in their games.
“I expect it to be tough, hard-fought games,” Hinch said. “We need to win a few of them.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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