Tigers and Royals have big innings to tie their respective series at one

We are three days into the League Divisional Series of the 2024 Major League Baseball postseason, and all four series are deadlocked at one game apiece. On Monday, the Detroit Tigers blanked the Cleveland Guardians 3-0 at Progressive Field in Cleveland, and the Kansas City Royals defeated the New York Yankees 4-2 at Yankee Stadium in New York.

Both National League Divisional Series are tied at one too. There you find the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets tied at one and the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres tied at one.

In Monday’s matchups, the Tigers and Royals won their respective games in a similar manner. They both had one explosive inning where they generated all their runs. In the Tigers/Guardians inning it was the top of the ninth inning. In the Royals/Yankees inning, it was the top of the fourth inning.

Tigers/Guardians

The Tigers scored all three of their runs in the top of the ninth inning with two out. After Spencer Torkelson struck out and Parker Meadows popped up to first base, the Tigers offense got rolling. Tigers catcher Jake Rogers of Canyon, Texas and Tigers shortstop Trey Sweeney of Louisville, Kentucky each singled. That set the stage for Tigers designated hitter Kerry Carpenter of Eustis, Florida, who hit a three-run blast that went 423 feet to right field.

The other reason why the Tigers won game two is because their best pitcher was marvelous, while the Guardians best pitcher was awful. Tigers ace and American League Cy Young favourite Tarik Skubal of Hayward, California threw seven shutout innings, and had eight strikeouts and zero walks. He allowed only three hits in 92 pitches. Meanwhile, Emmanuel Clase of Rio San Juan, Dominican Republic, who should be considered the top closer in the game with a regular season earned run average of 0.61, now has a postseason ERA of 13.50 after giving up three earned runs in a single inning on Monday.

Royals/Yankees

The Royals began the fourth inning with a 402 foot home by catcher Salvador Perez of Valencia, Venezuela to tie the game at one. That was followed by three RBI singles by right fielder Tommy Pham of Las Vegas, Nevada (scored first baseman Yuli Gurriel of Sancti Spiritius, Cuba), center fielder Garrett Hampson of Reno, Nevada (scored Pham), and third baseman Maikel Garcia of La Sabana, Venezuela (scored Hampson). For Garcia, he had four base hits, with all of them being singles.