Guardians’ Historic Comeback Season Ends With Wild Card Loss to Tigers.

The Cleveland Guardians pulled off the biggest in-season rally in MLB history, storming back from 15 ½ games behind Detroit in July and 11 back in September to claim the American League Central crown. But the magic ran out in October.

Dillon Dingler, a northeast Ohio native, crushed a go-ahead solo homer in the sixth inning, sparking five unanswered runs as the Tigers beat Cleveland 6-3 in Game 3 of the AL Wild Card Series on Thursday.

One year after bouncing Detroit from the Division Series, the Guardians were bounced themselves, their season ending in the opening round. Cleveland still hasn’t lifted the World Series trophy since 1948.

“We can nitpick, but at the end of the day, we just didn’t execute in all areas of the game,” manager Stephen Vogt said. “I’m proud of what we accomplished, but it’s not enough. We show up every year to win a World Series. No excuses.”

Cleveland’s bats, already suspect after a franchise-low .226 team average in the regular season, sputtered again. The Guardians hit just .178 across the series, scratching out 16 hits total. Bo Naylor’s three-run blast in Game 2 accounted for half their offense in the entire set. Only rookie George Valera (.286) and José Ramírez (.250) hit above .222.

“It’s going to sting a lot, but I believe we can get better,” Ramírez said through an interpreter. “You always feel bad after this, but you’ve got to keep your head up and work harder for next season.”

Desperate for lineup help, the front office even promoted top prospect Chase DeLauter from Triple-A for his big-league debut. He went 1-for-6 with an error in center field.

The bullpen, so often a strength, faltered at the wrong time. Erik Sabrowski and Hunter Gaddis gave up four runs in just two-thirds of an inning in the finale as Detroit stretched its lead. All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase’s late-season suspension left Vogt leaning heavily on rookies Cade Smith and others in high-leverage spots.

Smith, pressed into the closer’s role, pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings in the series, but his workload highlighted the bullpen’s thin margin for error.

For the Guardians, the season will be remembered for the improbable charge to a division title — but also for an offense that never arrived in October. For Detroit, it’s sweet revenge and a ticket to the AL Division Series.