Guardians vs Tigers Series Recap

Cleveland finishes out their 9-game road trip by taking 3 of 4 in Detroit. Get Adison Delp's impression of the series in the Motor City.

Baseball is a very unique sport. There are numerous ups and downs throughout the season due to the 162 games played in a regular campaign. A team can win or lose several games in a row and it does not mean much unless the team is consistent.

Fans of baseball have to keep the bigger picture in mind. Even if you cheer for the best team in baseball, it is natural as a sports fan to feel like something is wrong when your team loses

multiple games in a short span.

For example, when the Cleveland Guardians started the year with a 3-6 record, I was convinced that the team was doomed this season. Then Cleveland promptly rattled off wins in 11 of their next 14 contests. Prior to this series against the Tigers, Cleveland was 1-5 over their last 6 games and that hopeless feeling was starting to return. We were about to play the best team in the MLB at the time in a 4 game series at their stadium, and I was nervous.

Detroit is also in the same division as Cleveland, making this series even more important.

Game 1: Guardians 7, Tigers 0

This was a fun game to watch. Tanner Bibee, Cleveland’s ace pitcher with Shane Bieber out with an injury, pitched 7 shutout innings while only giving up 3 hits and 1 walk. This was a good turnaround after he had a rough start to the year.

Bibee got his 4th win of the season and was never really challenged by Detroit. José Ramírez and Angel Martínez each had 2 hits and Carlos Santana had

a 2 RBI double. Martinez homered in the 3rd inning and also hit a 2 RBI double in the 9th.

Relief pitcher Cade Smith came into the 8th inning while Detroit had bases loaded with no outs. He struck out all 3 batters he faced to end Detroit’s best chance to score of the night.

This set the tone for the series as Cleveland showed that they came to play and would not give the Tigers easy wins. Jose Ramirez extended his hitting streak to 15 straight games during this game and Carlos Santana started to heat up at the plate following a lackluster start the year.

Game 2: Guardians 3, Tigers 1

Slade Cecconi made just his second start for the Guardians, giving up one run in 6 innings

and earning his first win of the season. The Guardians jumped on Detroit right out of the gates, scoring 2 runs in the 1st inning highlighted by an RBI triple by José Ramírez, whose

hitting streak continued to 16 games. Detroit responded in the 6th inning with a solo home run by Spencer Torkelson, but Cleveland put the game away in the 9th as a Bo Naylor triple followed by a Steven Kwan single scored Cleveland’s third run. Emmanuel Clase earned his 10th save of the season and officially ended the game by recording the last 3 outs.

Game 3: Guardians 7, Tigers 5 (10 innings)

In this game, Detroit is the team that quickly jumped on Guardians starter Luis Ortiz, scoring 3 runs in the 1st inning. Ortiz has struggled this year after Cleveland landed him in a trade with the Pirates.

In the 3rd inning, Cleveland cut the deficit by 2 with a Bo Naylor solo home run and a

José Ramírez RBI single. The score remained 2-3 until the 8th inning when Angel Martínez drove in a run to tie the game. The contest continued into extra innings where the Guardians scored 4 runs in the 10th, led by doubles from Kyle Manzardo and Martínez.

Clase came out to close the game and although he gave up a 2-run double that put some heat on the Guardians, would eventually shut down the comeback attempt to earn Cleveland the series with a chance to sweep the AL Central-leading Tigers. José had extended his hitting streak to 17 games and everything was going Cleveland’s way.

Game 4: Guardians 0, Tigers 5

This game took place less than 17 hours after Game 3, so Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt decided to rest starters like Kwan and Santana. This opened the door for Detroit ace Tarik Skubal to throw 9 innings of scoreless ball, his first time completing a game in 2025.

Last year’s American League Cy Young Award winner was dominant throughout the whole game, giving up only 2 hits and striking out 13 Guardians batters. One hit against him was by Ramírez, who extended his streak to 18 games, which ties his career high. The Tigers scored all 5 of their runs in the 5th inning off of Guardians starter Logan Allen, but were otherwise held in check.

This series was an amazing win for the Guardians, as they got back on track against the best

team in the AL. The 3-1 disparity pulls Cleveland within 4 games of the division lead as the Guardians move into interleague play with a 3-game home series against the NL-leading Los Angeles Dodgers and league MVP Shohei Ohtani. It will be fun to see if Ramirez and the squad can continue their hot streak against the most expensive roster in the MLB.

Sources:

ESPN

MLB.com