As a baseball fan, you live for this game. As a baseball player, you dream about it when you're playing whiffle ball in your backyard. Win or go home. That's it.
The Detroit Tigers gave themselves some breathing room by winning Tarik Skubal's Game 2 start and getting through Game 3 with relative ease. However, they blew a chance to close out the series in Game 4 when Beau Brieske gave up a huge home run to David Fry, turning the game - and the series - on its head.
Game 5 started out pretty mundane: Matthew Boyd struck out three Tigers batters in the first inning after allowing two runners on base, while Steven Kwan got on base on an odd hit that could have been an error, but Skubal easily got around the runner.
The good news for the Tigers is that they have the ultimate ace up their sleeve, as Skubal will be on the mound for the third time this postseason. Skubal has been amazing so far, allowing just seven hits and no runs in 13 high-intensity innings in Houston and Cleveland. This is also Skubal's third start on the road, which the left-hander has enjoyed so far, chatting with the crowd as he left the roundhouse and cheering on his team on the way there.
This game will start significantly earlier than originally scheduled, but you won't find many anxious Tigers and Guardians fans complaining about a shorter wait to learn their fate. Game 5 was originally scheduled to start at 4:08 p.m., but was pushed back to 8:08 p.m. after the Yankees beat the Royals and no longer needed a Game 5, but was then pushed back to 1:08 p.m. because of weather.
The big question before the game was the status of Game 2 hero Kerry Carpenter, who had to leave Game 4 after suffering a strained hamstring while rounding third base to score a run. The Tigers have been relatively tight-lipped about Carpenter's status, saying it was a temporary decision, but manager A.J. Hinch indicated he was encouraged by what he saw from Carpenter at Progressive Field on Saturday morning.
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