DETROIT — The Cleveland Guardians knew what was coming in Game 3, and it didn’t matter.
The pitching plans for the Detroit Tigers are working quite well at the moment.
Detroit sent six pitchers to the mound while shutting out Cleveland for the second straight game, winning 3-0 Wednesday to take a 2-1 lead in their AL Division Series.
“We were prepared for all of it,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “We took our shots when we had the opportunity to put some runs up, placed some bets and then just didn’t come through.”
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The Tigers opened with Keider Montero, and the right-hander retired the free-swinging Guardians in order in the first inning on five strikes and one ball.
“We know he’s aggressive in the zone early,” Vogt said. “I’ll never question what our guys do. It’s their at-bat. We don’t tell people how to work an at-bat. They’re individuals. They’re big leaguers.”
Montero’s six pitches were the fewest by a starting pitcher in the playoffs since Wade Miley had a five-pitch outing, playing for Milwaukee against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2018 National League Championship Series.
While Miley was pulled after a walk, Hinch just continued his successful approach of relying on his bullpen — something that began in earnest at the trade deadline.
“Absolutely not scripted because there’s just so much stuff that goes on,” he said.
Hinch inserted rookie left-hander Brant Hurter for a particularly left-handed portion of the lineup in the second. Josh Naylor and Lane Thomas opened the inning with singles and Andres Gimenez flied out to left.
Vogt then used lefty-batting Jhonkensy Noel to hit for Will Brennan, who bats from the right side. Noel flied out to center, advancing Naylor to third, but Bo Naylor lined to right for the final out of the inning.
“We kind of knew that was what they were going to do,” Vogt said.
The Guardians left eight runners on base and went 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position. They haven’t scored since the sixth inning of their 7-0 win in Game 1 against Detroit.
Cleveland has a chance to send the ALDS back home with a win on Thursday night. Vogt said Tanner Bibee will start Game 4 for the AL Central champions.
The Tigers are looking to advance to the AL Championship Series for the first time since 2013.
The Guardians are in the playoffs for the fifth time in eight years, but the franchise has not advanced past a division series since appearing in the 2016 World Series.
Brennan said he’s confident the team will bounce back.
“We’ve done this all year,” he said. “You know a lot of people have never really believed in us until we made it to the postseason. So, again kind of just the norm.”
Bibee pitched 4 2/3 innings in Game 1 against Detroit. The 24-year-old right-hander was 12-8 with a 3.47 ERA over 31 starts in the regular season. He is 22-12 with a 3.25 ERA during his two seasons in the majors.
The Tigers, who surged into the playoffs with a 31-13 run to end a decade-long drought, likely will lean on at least a handful of pitchers in the second of two games at Comerica Park.
“We’ve been doing this for a couple months,” Hinch said simply.
