The Cleveland Guardians will play Game 2 of the American League Division Series against the Detroit Tigers at Progressive Field on Monday afternoon, at 4:08 pm ET.
Matthew Boyd, the owner of a 2.72 ERA in the regular season, will take the ball for Cleveland.
Pitching on the opposing team will be the Triple Crown winner in the AL and likely Cy Young award Tarik Skubal.
The Guards’ offense scored seven runs in Game 1, including five in the opening frame against Tyler Holton and Reese Olson.
Monday, however, will represent the unit’s biggest test of the season.
Skubal was, hands down, the best pitcher in the junior circuit.
From @EliasSports, about Tarik Skubal, who starts for the Tigers today: Over the past two seasons, the opponent OPS against him is .553. In last 50 years, the only AL pitcher with a lower opponent OPS in two-year span (min: 250 IP) was Pedro Martinez (in three separate two-year…
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) October 7, 2024
He posted a 2.39 ERA in the regular season, with a 18-4 record, 228 strikeouts and a 0.92 WHIP.
He single-handedly carried the Tigers pitching staff to the postseason, and once there, tossed six scoreless frames against the Houston Astros in the Wild Card series.
In his only start against the Guardians this year, on July 22, the southpaw conceded a single run in seven innings.
There is no reason to expect anything different this time around, except that the Guardians offense is an underrated unit and there is a lot more at stake right now than in July.
Can Jose Ramirez, Josh Naylor, Kyle Manzardo, Lane Thomas, Andrés Giménez, Jhonkensy Noel, David Fry, Steven Kwan and the rest of the lineup come through against the single most dominant pitcher in the American League?
It won’t be easy, but it will be fascinating to see if these hitters can inflict damage against the top lefty.
If they can, Cleveland can use its impressive bullpen again to nullify the Tigers offense in the late innings and go to Detroit with a 2-0 series lead.
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