The Tigers, though, kept clawing and closed to 5-3 on Colt Keith’s one-out RBI double in the seventh. Eli Morgan came in for Cleveland and struck out both batters he faced.
Thomas hit an RBI single in the eighth to put the Guardians up by three, and that’s when Vogt turned to All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase, the AL’s saves leader, to put the Tigers away.
Throwing one 100 mph fastball after another, Clase got the final six outs. When he retired Keith on a routine grounder to first, the Guardians could finally exhale and plan for their first ALCS visit since 2016.
Skubal lost for the first time since Aug. 2, and the Tigers, who missed a chance to eliminate the Guardians at Comerica Park on Thursday, had their unimaginable late-season push end in disappointment.
”I have a heartbroken team for all the right reasons,” said Detroit manager A.J. Hinch, who pushed all the right buttons down the stretch. ”I mean we left everything we could on the field against a really good team and we didn’t want the season to end as abruptly as it did.”
Out of contention in August, Detroit regrouped and rerouted its season. Energized by some kids they brought up from the minors, the Tigers took off and went 31-13 after Aug. 11 to earn a postseason berth — one of three AL Central teams to make it.
