'He's a problem': Steven Kwan is the 'spark plug' at the top of the Guardians lineup

CLEVELAND — Left fielder Steven Kwan is sizzling at the top of the Guardians batting order.

How hot is he?

Well, Kwan recorded 11 hits and scored six runs in the past week to help the Guardians eliminate the Detroit Tigers in five games in an American League Division Series .

Kwan went 3-for-5 with three singles and scored two runs in Cleveland's 7-3 win over the Tigers in Saturday's Game 5 at Progressive Field .

"He's a problem," Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said of Kwan. "When he gets in this mode where he's pulling the ball and he's shooting balls up the middle and he's able to stay on balls down the left field line, he's really hard to deal with.

"He is the engine. I love a lot of their players and a lot of what they did, but he is an engine that creates a lot of pressure that you've got to deal with behind him, whoever they put in the two hole, and then here comes Jose Ramirez and Lane Thomas — I will remember him for a long time — and Josh Naylor and [Andres] Gimenez at the bottom now. They made contact, and that type of style of player and type of mindset is ignited by Steven Kwan. He had an incredible series."

A sellout crowd of 34,105 watched Kwan get two singles Saturday off Tigers ace Tarik Skubal . The second single came in the Guardians' five-run fifth inning capped by a grand slam by Lane Thomas .

After Andres Gimenez, Kwan and David Fry hit singles in the fifth, Skubal hit Jose Ramirez with a pitch to force in a run and tie the score 1-1. Thomas then smacked the next pitch over the left-center field fence for his second home run of the series.

"That's who we are," Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. "That's who that group has been in that room all year. As soon as we get punched, we answer. That's been our M.O. all year long, is as soon as we give up a run, our guys come right back.

"And to put up the five-spot, José gets hit by the pitch, Lane comes right up and gets the big blast. But we can't rely on the home run. We have to string things together, and our guys did both today. And then we got the add-on runs at the end, and I thought today was just a perfect picture of who our team is at our best, and couldn't have come on a better day."

Kwan , an American League all-star this season, batted .524 in the series against the Tigers with 11 hits in 21 at-bats, two walks and a stolen base. Ten of his hits were singles and he also had a double.

"Obviously we in go with a plan, trying to execute the plan," Kwan said. "Once you hit the ball, you can't really control where it goes, so put some good swings on it. Saw him [Skubal] obviously earlier, so that really helped but, I mean, it's baseball. It's hard sometimes, and when it's good, it's good."

Kwan has a hit in each of his last 10 playoff games as the Guardians head to the Bronx to meet the New York Yankees on Monday in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series . That matches Kenny Lofton's 10-game streak in 1995 as the longest postseason hitting streak in Cleveland history and is the longest active playoff hitting streak in MLB.

"Being able to see those shapes, seeing what their plan is really — [Skubal's] got really good stuff, he's able to locate so when he hits the spot, you can't really do anything about it — but just being able to see that over and over is super helpful," Kwan said. "Being able to have that dialogue with other guys, too, and kind of formulate a team plan. I think all of those go into it."

Kwan is the first Cleveland player and third MLB player to record three or more hits in three consecutive postseason games, tying former Chicago White Sox infielder Tim Anderson (in 2020) and St. Louis Cardinals legend Lou Brock (in 1968).

Kwan's 11 hits in the ALDS against Detroit set a Cleveland record for a single division series. The previous high was nine hits by Kwan in 2022 and Omar Vizquel in 1997 and 2001. Kwan's 20 hits through his first 12 career playoff games is a franchise record for that many playoff games, surpassing's Lofton's 18 hits in 1995.

"Watching Steven Kwan hit ... you don't get to hit in situations without guys taking good at-bats in front of you," Thomas said. "It's contagious, so you want to come through because they came through."

Kwan, a two-time gold glover, started his playoff career 0-for-9 in two games in a 2022 AL wild card series against the Tampa Bay Rays and then went 9-for-21 with four runs, a double, a home run, a walk and a stolen base in five games in a 2022 ALDS.

Kwan was limited to 122 games in the regular season this year because of hamstring and back injuries that landed him on the injured list. He played in 147 games a rookie in 2022 and 158 games in 2023.

"Steven Kwan has been phenomenal all year long," Vogt said after Thursday's 5-4 win in Game 4 at Comerica Park. "He's a big-time player. We saw it throughout the whole year, and Kwany has been our spark plug, continuing to be it.

"And when you're in the postseason, you have to take what the pitcher gives you. You can't try and do too much. And Kwany is the epitome of that and has been all year long."

Michael Beaven can be reached by email at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: 'He's a problem': Steven Kwan is the 'spark plug' at the top of the Guardians lineup