Looking fresh after their layoff, the Cleveland Guardians pounced early on the Detroit Tigers in Game 1 of the American League Division Series, scoring five runs in the first inning. All five runs were scored before the Tigers had recorded a single out.
The five-run first made the Guardians the first American League team to score five runs before recording an out to start a playoff game, per Stats Perform. The last time Cleveland scored five runs in the first inning of a postseason game was in Game 1 of the 1997 ALDS against the New York Yankees.
The Tigers, deploying their patented creative pitching plan, used reliever Tyler Holton to open the game, but Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan led off the inning with a double.
After David Fry walked, Cleveland struck first when José Ramírez hit a ball down the third-base line that ate up third baseman Zach McKinstry for an error. Cleveland first baseman Josh Naylor followed with an RBI single to make it 2-0. That prompted Tigers manager A.J. Hinch to replace Holton, who failed to record an out, with Tigers bulk pitcher, Reese Olson.
But, on the first pitch Olson threw, Guardians centre-fielder Lane Thomas blew the game open with a three-run home run, making it 5-0, and delighting the crowd at Progressive Field.
On the mound for the Guardians, Tanner Bibee weathered a 27-pitch first inning, but was able to pitch out of trouble.
(Photo of Lane Thomas admiring his homer: Jason Miller / Getty Images)
