The Cleveland Guardians advanced Saturday past the upstart Detroit Tigers who’d had the best record in the American League since the trade deadline.

The Tigers’ mark of 34-19 over the final two months of the regular season was more than a bit of a surprise given that they sold off nearly everything of value by July 30 as if the bank was about to foreclose on the farm. The one heirloom they were able to keep in the family was left-handed pitcher Tarik Skubal. And Skubal stymied the Guardians in Game 2, to the tune of just three hits allowed and issued as many walks as the guys who didn’t pitch that day.

But the team from the opposite shore of Lake Erie had revenge on their minds when they faced Detroit’s ace again in Game 5. With the bases loaded in the fifth inning of a 1-0 game and nowhere to fit José Ramírez — who’d been granted an intentional pass earlier in the game — he was plunked on the forearm, which brought the tying run across for Cleveland.

The next batter to the dish was Lane Thomas: a deadline acquisition from the Washington Nationals, as the Guards had gone the buying route in contrast to the Tigers’ course in late July. Thomas was brought in for his combination of speed on the bases and in the outfield, along with his arm in center and, most notably, his right-handed bat.

Thomas had hit just eight points above the Mendoza Line entering postseason play since being dealt. But he stung a first-pitch fastball from Skubal that came out of orbit landing in a fan’s glove over the high left-field wall, plating four runs with a single stroke.

Cleveland would surrender two more runs between the sixth and the seventh, but the Tigers wouldn’t get any closer than 5-3. The Guardians added another pair and wrapped up the series with a 7-3 Game 5 victory.

It was Cleveland’s first winner-take-all game triumph since the franchise’s first opportunity in the 1997 ALDS vs. the New York Yankees; they’d dropped eight consecutively from then until Saturday against Detroit. And what a show they put on in front of the hometown faithful.

The Guardians will now face off with the Yankees once more, this time for the AL pennant. The Bombers were the only team in the league with a better regular season record than Cleveland this year. Game 1 will be Monday in the Bronx.

—@PoisonPill4