Guardians’ late power surge evens Wild Card Series with Tigers.

Brayan Rocchio and Bo Naylor delivered back-to-back knockout blows in a five-run eighth inning Wednesday night, lifting the Cleveland Guardians to a 6–1 win over the Detroit Tigers and forcing a decisive Game 3 in their AL Wild Card Series.

George Valera also homered as Cleveland’s bats finally broke through, setting up a winner-take-all matchup Thursday with a trip to face the Seattle Mariners in the Division Series. Since the expanded round began in 2022, no team has dropped Game 1 and advanced — a streak the Guardians now have a chance to break.

Detroit had its chances but wasted them, going just 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position and leaving 15 men stranded. Javier Báez collected two hits and drove in the Tigers’ lone run, while their best opportunity came in the ninth when they loaded the bases with two outs. Rookie reliever Cade Smith slammed the door, getting Dillon Dingler to line out to first baseman C.J. Kayfus.

The game flipped in the eighth after Rocchio drilled a 99.9 mph fastball from Troy Melton into the right-field seats for his second homer in three games. The 24-year-old Venezuelan, now batting .308 in 12 postseason contests, had also launched a three-run shot in the 10th inning of Sunday’s regular-season finale. Daniel Schneemann followed with an RBI double before Naylor crushed a sweeper from Brant Hurter over the right-field wall to make it 6–1.

Jakob Junis earned the win out of the bullpen, part of a Cleveland relief corps that blanked Detroit over the final 5 1/3 innings.

Valera opened the scoring in the first with a solo homer off Casey Mize, working a full count before driving a 94.1 mph fastball over the center-field fence. Detroit answered in the fourth on Báez’s RBI single, but an apparent run by Dillon Dingler was wiped off the board after replay overturned a safe call at third on a throw from Chase DeLauter in his MLB debut.

The Tigers threatened again in the seventh, putting runners at the corners with no outs. But Hunter Gaddis induced a shallow flyout, and Tim Herrin fanned the next two hitters to escape.

Up Next:

Detroit hands the ball to veteran right-hander Jack Flaherty (8–15, 4.64 ERA) for his eighth career postseason start. Cleveland counters with rookie Slade Cecconi (7–7, 4.30 ERA), making his playoff debut.