After the bye, the Guardians pounce on the Tigers in Game 1 of ALDS

CLEVELAND — For playoff teams that earn a bye to the division series, there's always a little fear that they'll show some rust in their first postseason game.

However, the Cleveland Guardians were having none of it on Saturday.

After a five-day break, the Guardians invaded the Detroit Tigers, scoring five times in the first inning and winning 7-0, giving them a 1-0 lead in their best-of-five AL Division series.

“It was definitely an issue for a lot of coaches to not go in and just go through the motions,” left fielder Steven Kwan said of the team’s week of practice. “Try to be purposeful. Today it worked.”

Kwan got the ball rolling for the home team, missing a home run by inches to put the game in front, but settling for a double. He nearly struck out again in the inning when Cleveland foiled the Tigers' strategy of taking advantage of an opening possession. Starter Tyler Holton didn't record an out, and the man who replaced him – right-hander Reese Olson – was promptly greeted with a first-pitch shot from Lane Thomas.

According to ESPN Research, the Guardians' five runs were the most in the first inning of a playoff game in franchise history.

“It’s a credit to the players that they’ve put a lot of effort into our training,” said Guardians manager Stephen Vogt. “They were competitive in some simulated games and it showed. We were ready to swing the bat and it looked like we didn’t take five days off.”

The run support benefited starter Tanner Bibee, who pitched 4⅔ scoreless innings and left the mound to a standing ovation. He was followed by four relievers who didn't throw a hit the rest of the game, including rookie Cade Smith, who struck out all four batters he faced. They all threw well, but with the early lead it was much easier to throw.

Designated hitter David Fry was asked how the team was prepared for this moment.

“We had live hitting all week, hitting from the machine, just different things we could do to kind of stay ready, stay up to speed and things like that,” he said.

Fry added a two-run double in the sixth inning, giving the Guardians' bullpen even more cushion. It was all part of a seven-hit, five-step attack spread across eight of their starters. Cleveland simply produced good bats in their lineup.

“Sometimes it’s hard to live and die by the home run,” Kwan said. “It was cool to be able to make barrels in different ways.”

The Guardians saw 153 pitches compared to the Tigers' 124, but with a day off between games, Detroit should have its bullpen fully available for Game 2. The Tigers will start star Tarik Skubal — who typically doesn't need much help from the bullpen — while Cleveland will hand the ball to veteran Matthew Boyd.

“What Matthew brought is just consistency,” Vogt said. “He was the same every time. He attacked the zone. He has really good stuff, is able to keep them off balance and really stabilized our rotation once we got him back healthy.”

Boyd returned from Tommy John surgery in August after signing with the team in June, making eight regular-season starts and posting a 2.72 ERA. Now he will be on the mound for a playoff game.

“I would be lying to you if I said I knew I was going to be here,” Boyd said. “But that’s what you work for. … Our coaches did a great job this week preparing us.”

So, according to Boyd and others, it wasn't just the batsmen who benefited from the week of training. The pitchers also valued their work. The effort was evident in Game 1, both on the mound and at the plate.

And that gives Cleveland control of the series early.

“They worked really hard over the course of this week to stay ready,” Vogt said, “and for us to be able to come out and go at them was just a great day for all of our guys.”