Barstool Bush

Detroit Tigers at Cleveland Guardians Game 1

2:10 PM ET
By Bush Staff·2 min read
Detroit TigersDET(64-76)
Cleveland GuardiansCLE(71-70)
3—4
FINAL
Share

Cleveland trailed by 3 for most of an afternoon delayed by rain, then scratched across the winning run in the ninth to steal the opener of a split doubleheader from Detroit.

Final12345678910RHE
DET
0020100000390
CLE
0000010201460

Keider Montero came in off a clean look at the Dodgers, and the Guardians countered with Logan Allen, freshly recalled and making his first big-league start since July 18. That gap alone made this an unpredictable arm to build a game plan around, and it showed early.

FINAL
Spread
WIN
Total
Tigers
(64-76)
LWLLL
3
Guardians
(71-70)
WLLWW
4
Best BetGuardians -125
Postgame

Cleveland trailed 3-0 into the sixth and still found a way, chipping away and walking it off in the ninth for the 4-3 win. The bullpen depth argument carried the day exactly as advertised — Detroit's lead evaporated once the game turned into a late-inning battle of relievers, which is the spot we said favored the home side.

Pregame

Cleveland is the team with something real to lose here, and that usually shows up in how a club plays down the stretch — sharper at-bats, quicker hooks, more urgency than a Detroit roster that's already looking at next year. The swing risk is Logan Allen, who hasn't actually started a game in seven weeks and was working almost exclusively in relief before this turn.

Detroit's lineup is missing real thump with Kerry Carpenter and Matt Vierling both still on the 10-day IL, but the group that took the field did enough damage against Allen early to make the absences look irrelevant, at least for a few innings. Cleveland, meanwhile, got its best everyday bat back in the fold: Chase DeLauter, who's been raking basically since the calendar flipped to August.

Keider Montero
Keider Montero
(9-8)·3.52 ERA
Aug 29 vs Dodgers
ND
5.1IP
1ER
3K
1BB
73P
Logan Allen
Logan Allen
(0-0)·5.94 ERA
Jul 18 vs Pirates
ND
3.1IP
2ER
3K
3BB
81P

None of that stopped the total from creeping up before first pitch, with the market leaning toward more scoring as game time got closer. That numbers-move context matters less once the linescore actually fills in, and this one filled in unevenly.

Detroit jumped to a 2-0 lead in the third and made it 3-0 in the fifth, and for a long stretch this looked like exactly the laugher a rebuilding-year Tigers club needed. Cleveland clawed a run back in the sixth, tied it with a two-run eighth, and then walked it off with a single run in the ninth for a 4-3 win — the kind of finish that erases a pitching line nobody will remember by October.

Detroit Tigers
(64-76)
09/04L@Guardians6-7
09/02W@Twins11-6
09/01L@Twins2-15
08/31L@Twins1-11
08/30LvsDodgers1-6
Cleveland Guardians
(71-70)
09/04WvsTigers7-6
09/03LvsBlue Jays3-6
09/02LvsBlue Jays0-11
09/01WvsBlue Jays6-1
08/30WvsRoyals11-1

The result fits a pattern for both sides. Detroit's last five have been ugly outside of one blowout win over Minnesota, and this loss extends that skid. Cleveland, by contrast, keeps finding ways to win the game in front of it rather than the one on paper — DeLauter's bat is doing real work there, and it papered over another shaky start from a rotation piece still finding his legs.

Detroit Tigers
(13)
  • Day-To-DayNewHao-Yu Lee (2B) — Lee was removed from the second game of Friday's doubleheader against the Guardians with a left shin contusion, Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic reports.09/05
  • 10-Day-ILKerry Carpenter (RF) — Carpenter (foot) was on track to have his walking boot removed this past weekend, MLB.com reports.08/31
  • 10-Day-ILMatt Vierling (CF) — Vierling (adductor) encountered a setback recently when he suffered a heel injury, Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic reports.08/28
  • 15-Day-ILNewJack Flaherty (SP) — Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said Friday that Flaherty (forearm) could begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Toledo this weekend, Chris McCosky of The Detroit News reports.09/04
  • 60-Day-ILBrant Hurter (RP) — Hurter (back) will resume his rehab assignment with Triple-A Toledo on Wednesday, Chris McCosky of The Detroit News reports.08/26
  • 60-Day-ILWenceel Perez (RF) — Perez (orbital) was pulled off his rehab assignment Tuesday, Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic reports.08/11
  • 60-Day-ILWill Vest (RP) — Vest (elbow) underwent hip surgery Tuesday, Chris McCosky of The Detroit News reports.08/11
  • 60-Day-ILJustin Verlander (SP) — Verlander (hamstring/hip) threw off the front of the bullpen mound Wednesday, Jason Beck of MLB.com reports.08/05
  • 60-Day-ILBurch Smith (RP) — Smith is being evaluated after exiting a rehab appearance with Triple-A Toledo on Thursday with right shoulder/lat discomfort, Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic reports.07/24
  • 60-Day-ILBailey Horn (RP) — Horn (elbow) will undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery, Chris McCosky of The Detroit News reports.07/18
  • 60-Day-ILParker Meadows (CF) — Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said Tuesday that Meadows (forearm) has yet to resume hitting and is without a timeline to return from the 60-day injured list, Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press reports.06/25
  • 60-Day-ILTrey Sweeney (SS) — Sweeney will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery this week, Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic reports.06/05
  • 60-Day-ILReese Olson (SP) — The Tigers placed Olson on the 60-day injured list Tuesday after he underwent a right shoulder labral repair Feb. 2 that will result in him missing the 2026 season.05/08
Cleveland Guardians
(5)
  • Day-To-DayNewChase DeLauter (RF) — DeLauter started in right field and went 4-for-4 with two doubles, an RBI and three runs scored in Sunday's 11-1 win over the Royals.09/05
  • Day-To-DayNewAngel Martinez (LF) — Martinez was removed from the second game of Friday's doubleheader against the Tigers with a left shoulder bruise, Chris McCosky of The Detroit News reports.09/05
  • 10-Day-ILRhys Hoskins (1B) — Hoskins (back) is feeling better but has not yet resumed baseball activity, MLB.com reports.08/30
  • 15-Day-ILColin Holderman (RP) — The Guardians placed Holderman on the 15-day injured list Friday with right wrist inflammation, Tim Stebbins of MLB.com reports.09/04
  • 60-Day-ILShawn Armstrong (RP) — Armstrong (calf) threw a bullpen session Friday, Tim Stebbins of MLB.com reports.08/28

The doubleheader format did some damage of its own. Colin Holderman landed on the 15-day IL the same day with wrist inflammation, thinning a Cleveland bullpen that just had to cover extra innings across two games, and both Hao-Yu Lee and Angel Martinez were banged up and pulled from the nightcap. None of that touched this particular final score, but it's the kind of fallout that follows a club into the rest of this four-game set.

More Stories