Takeaways from Guardians-Tigers Game 2: Detroit ties up ALDS with more late-inning magic

The Detroit Tigers keep showing how resilient they are.

On Monday, Detroit drew even in the American League Division Series, earning a 3-0 win over the Cleveland Guardians in Game 2, thanks to a heroic three-run home run in the ninth inning from outfielder Kerry Carpenter. The AL Central rivals now head to Detroit, where they'll face off in the first playoff game at Comerica Park since 2014 on Wednesday.

Here are three takeaways from Detroit's win:

Tigers' postseason magic is still alive

After being shut out in this past Saturday's Game 1 loss, it appeared the Tigers finally ran out of gas, and whatever postseason magic they appeared to have possessed in the wild-card series had worn off. However, Detroit once again proved you can never count it out.

The first eight and two-thirds innings of Monday's Game 2 were a similar story to the series opener for the Tigers. Detroit's offense couldn't capitalize on several scoring opportunities, leaving nine runners on base to that point, with the team going a combined 0-for-8 from the plate with runners in scoring position.

Then, the "Gritty Kitties" got to work against Cleveland right-hander Emmanuel Clase, the best closer in the majors who retired the first three batters he faced on Monday. Nonetheless, Tigers catcher Jake Rogers and shortstop Trey Sweeney strung together a pair of two-out singles, bringing Carpenter, who entered the game as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning, to the plate.

Carpenter battled against Clase before belting the closer's sixth pitch of the at-bat 423 feet over the right field fence at Progressive Field for a three-run homer to break a scoreless tie.

The home run was just as improbable as Detroit reaching and making it this far in the postseason. According to Buster Olney of ESPN, Carpenter's homer was the first Clase — who allowed just five earned runs in the regular season — gave up to a left-hander since July 4, 2023.

There's something special about the way the Tigers continue to fight. It'll be fascinating to see whether they can maintain their momentum back home and continue their remarkable Cinderella story.

LHP Tarik Skubal continues to dominate

Baseball fans who didn't get to see much of Skubal during the regular season are quickly learning why he's considered the best pitcher in the sport.

Skubal, who tossed six shutout innings in Detroit's Game 1 win over the Houston Astros in the wild-card series, was even more impressive in his second career postseason start. The All-Star left-hander delivered a Herculean effort to keep Detroit's playoff hopes alive, allowing just three hits across seven scoreless innings while striking out eight batters.

Skubal was perfect through his first 4.1 innings before running into trouble in the fifth and sixth, but induced two double plays to get out of jams unscathed.

The 27-year-old is off to a historic start to his postseason career. As pointed out by MLB.com's Sarah Langs , Skubal is the fifth pitcher to post a scoreless start of at least six innings pitched in each of his first two career postseason appearances. Additionally, he's the first pitcher in MLB history to pitch at least six shutout innings while allowing fewer than six baserunners in each of his first two career postseason starts, per OptaSTATS .

While Skubal has unquestionably been as advertised, the Tigers will need to provide him with run support going forward, assuming the team doesn't get eliminated before his next start. After all, getting even a 2-0 lead for a talent like Skubal could be all he needs to help lead Detroit to victory.

Guardians should be concerned about their bats

The extended break entering the postseason has negatively impacted some of the higher seeds in the division series since the current playoff format was introduced in 2022. Despite this, Cleveland didn't appear to be affected much by its five-day layoff, as the team scored five runs in the first inning of Game 1 against the Tigers.

However, since then, the Guardians' bats have gone cold. Over their last 16 innings, the Guardians have scored just two runs and collected six hits, only three of which came on Monday.

Cleveland's extended break shouldn't be to blame. The loss and current streak of 11 scoreless innings have only emphasized the issues with the inconsistent Guardians offense. From the All-Star break to the end of the season, Cleveland ranked 26th among teams in OPS (.676) and scored just 254 runs, the fifth-fewest in the majors during that span.

The lackluster second-half results, coupled with the team's performance since Game 1's first-inning explosion, don't give Cleveland much optimism that its bats will quickly turn things around ahead of Wednesday's pivotal Game 3. The Guardians desperately need a spark, particularly from their franchise cornerstone Jose Ramirez , who has just one hit across six at-bats this postseason.