Lane Thomas' home run pushes the Guardians past the Tigers in the ALDS opener

CLEVELAND – Lane Thomas hit a three-run home run in a five-run outburst before Detroit got an out and the Cleveland Guardians unleashed their lights-out bullpen to complete a four-hitter in a 7-0 victory over the Tigers in an AL Division Series opener to be completed on Saturday.

Thomas' shot – in his first career postseason move – helped the Guardians hold off the Tigers, who stormed into the playoffs with a second-half lead before defeating AL West champion Houston in the wild-card round .

Tanner Bibee pitched 4⅔ innings before Guardians manager Stephen Vogt opened the door to baseball's best bullpen to finish off the Tigers. The relievers combined to pitch 4⅓ scoreless innings, creating the largest shutout victory margin in Cleveland's postseason history.

“It started with the guys in front of me,” Thomas said.

Detroit struck out 13 times and didn't get a runner past first in the final four innings.

Cleveland's bullpen was as advertised. Rookie Cade Smith (1-0) replaced Bibee and struck out all four batters. Tim Herrin took care of the seventh, Hunter Gaddis took care of the eighth and Emmanuel Clase, who led the AL with 47 saves, took care of the ninth.

David Fry hit a sixth-inning double for the AL Central champion Guardians, who were unable to play for nearly a week despite a first-round bye.

“It's unbelievable. To come out and do what they do day in and day out, especially during the 162 (game) season, that shows what we have back there,” Thomas said.

Game 2 is Monday when the Tigers turn to Tarik Skubal, the favorite to win the AL Cy Young Award, to try to even win the best-of-five series.

The 2,327th Meeting between Detroit and Cleveland was the first between the franchises and Central Division rivals in the postseason.

After one inning it was almost over.

Tigers coach AJ Hinch has made the right decisions for months as his young club climbed to postseason eligibility with a record of 33-13 since Aug. 11, under .500 at the trade deadline.

Hinch used his bullpen from the start in Game 1 and it backfired.

The Guardians sent nine batters to the plate in the first, with Thomas' moon shot into the left-field stands opening a 5-0 lead. Cleveland became the first team in AL postseason history to score five runs before recording an out.

Steven Kwan got it rolling with a leadoff double against Tigers starter Tyler Holton (0-1) and Fry walked. José Ramírez followed with a hard jump to third that Zach McKinstry misplayed on a mistake, allowing Kwan to score.

Josh Naylor's RBI single made it 2-0 and Hinch pulled Holton after just four batters to bring in Reese Olson – the play exploded within seconds.

Thomas, who batted just .143 with 33 strikeouts in his first month with Cleveland after being acquired from Washington in July, made his first postseason at-bat with the Guardians memorable.

He turned Olson's first pitch – a slider down the middle of the plate – and hurled it over the wall, sending the majority of the 33,548 fans at Progressive Field into a frenzy.

Bibee admitted to being nervous before the opening game and he showed it in the first game.

He gave up a one-out single and struck out Riley Greene with two outs, prompting a visit from pitching coach Carl Willis. Bibee gave Colt Keith the final out with a lazy fly on his 27th pitch.

Taking the mound in the second with a five-run lead helped Bibee settle in. The right-hander allowed four hits and struck out six.

TRAINING ROOM

Guardians: RHP Alex Cobb, a candidate to start Game 3, was added to the ALDS roster after finishing the regular season on the injured list with a blister on his middle finger. Cobb's postseason experience — he beat Cleveland in the 2013 wild-card round with Tampa Bay — certainly helped his cause, plus he was a former teammate of Vogt's. Cobb was acquired from San Francisco in a July trade.

NEXT

Skubal led the AL in wins (18), ERA (2.39) and strikeouts (228). The left-hander is expected to face Guardians RHP Matthew Boyd, who spent eight seasons with the Tigers and remains close friends with Skubal.