MLB Division Series takeaways: Yankees advance to ALCS, Guardians stay alive
One team lives on in the American League Division Series. One team is done for the season.
In the first of two win-or-go-home ALDS games on Thursday, the Cleveland Guardians staved off elimination at the hands of the surging Detroit Tigers with a 5-4 win. They’ll meet Saturday in Cleveland for a deciding Game 5. In the late matchup, New York Yankees celebrated an ALCS berth after knocking off the Kansas City Royals.
Here is how the day went down, from live updates and analysis to takeaways and what’s next for each team.
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Takeaways and analysis
Series tied 2-2
The best game of the series provided highlight reel moments for both teams, but it’s the Guardians who prevailed to force a Game 5 in Cleveland on Saturday thanks to the heroics of designated hitter David Fry, who wasn’t even in the starting lineup. Fry came off the bench to hit a two-run home run in the seventh, giving the lead back to the Guardians, who were down 3-2 at the time. Fry added an RBI on a squeeze play two innings later, cementing his status as the MVP of the night. The game was tied 1-1 and 2-2 before Detroit took its only lead in the sixth on an RBI hit by pinch hitter Wenceel Perez. The drama continued through the later innings as Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase was asked to complete a five-out save. He gave up a run in the ninth, but closed the door on Matt Vierling and the Tigers, getting him to strike out.
What to watch in Game 5: The Tigers lost Game 4, but they automatically earn the edge for Game 5 because Tarik Skubal is on full rest and ready to go in the biggest game of his life. The likely Cy Young winner shut down the Guardians over seven innings in Game 2 and hasn’t given up a run in the postseason yet. It’s unclear what Cleveland will do to counter him — Matthew Boyd is the likely starter — but either way, the Guardians will be underdogs against one of the best in the game. — Jesse Rogers
New York wins series 3-1
The New York Yankees closed out the Kansas City Royals with the same excellent brand of baseball they exhibited throughout their ALDS matchup, closing out the best-of-five series with a 3-1 victory in Game 4. Led by a dominant seven-inning start from Gerrit Cole, buoyed by a bullpen that threw 15.2 scoreless innings in the series, aided by a defense that played error-free for the second consecutive night, the Yankees reinforced why they’re the top seed in the AL. The Royals’ tremendous season — in which they made a 30-game improvement over their 106-loss 2023 club — ended with a whimper, though that’s as much because of the Yankees’ excellence as it was any specific failure by Kansas City. When the Yankees are playing clean, intelligent baseball, they look like the sort of team that can beat anyone. And with three wins in the books, they’ve got eight more to go for their first World Series title since 2009.
What to watch in the ALCS: Next up for the Yankees is Game 1 of the ALCS on Monday night at 7:37 p.m. ET against the winner of Cleveland and Detroit’s ALDS Game 5 on Saturday. The good news for the Yankees: If it’s Detroit, they won’t have to face AL Cy Young favorite Tarik Skubal — who will start Saturday for the Tigers — until Game 3. — Jeff Passan
