Dillon Dingler leads Tigers past Guardians with go-ahead HR to advance to ALDS

Image Credit: Larry C. Arreguin/Latino Sports

CLEVELAND, OH — The Detroit Tigers outlasted the Cleveland Guardians’ worn-down bullpen, and two players who had been held hitless for the AL Wild Card Series, broke through, helping the Tigers come out of the winner take all Game 3 victorious Thursday afternoon at Progressive Field. 

Tigers catcher Dillion Dingler was 0-for-9 when he came up to bat with two out and the game tied at one in the top of the sixth, but then, he suddenly pulled a go-ahead home run down the left field line off Guardians reliever Joey Cantillo on a flat changeup that was in the middle of the zone and high. 

Before, Progressive Field was tense with the game deadlocked, and the Tigers squandering their chances with runners on base.

Then, as Dingler’s homer cleared the wall, the park went from tense to slack, releasing the tension when the Tigers took the lead.

​Dingler, 27, was a second round pick by the Detroit Tigers in the 2020 MLB Draft, and has gone through some speed bumps in his development, spending the majority of his four-year Minor League career with the Tigers’ Double-A affiliate in Erie, Pennsylvania. 

“You learn a lot about yourself going through the ranks,” he explained, going further in depth. “To me, I spent my fair share in Double-A. You know, I hit well — hit well up until I got to Double-A. Struggled a little bit. Learned a lot about myself as a hitter. And then you kind of turn the page. You find a little bit of success and you kind of roll with it.”

“I feel like that’s what I’ve been doing the past three or so years. Obviously, I scuffled last year when I came up. But I was able to get the opportunity this year and find that comfort level, and I was able to excel a little bit.”

Dingler has enjoyed a breakout season and even earned the trust of Tigers’ ace Tarik Skubal not to shake him off throughout his outings. 

With the bat, he had 13 home runs, 57 RBIs, and a slash line of .278/.327/.425 in 435 regular-season at-bats.

“I feel like the momentum in the series was the biggest thing,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “The team with the biggest momentum or the most momentum was the one that was going to carry on. “We were able to flip it right there, and we had a huge sixth inning, able to score some runs and be in the driver’s seat a little bit.” 

Dingler’s home run allowed the team to relax, finally putting a crooked number on the board with a five-spot that deflated the Guardians. Cleveland was in a bad spot because their starting pitcher, Slade Cecconi, only went 2-⅓ innings with one run allowed, as their bullpen was already short-handed coming into the game, having pitched 9 ⅓ innings in Games 1 and 2 combined.

Wenceel Pérez had also been struggling, 0-for-11 before he broke through with a seventh-inning two-run single, which really broke the Guardians’ backs since Cleveland’s offense was not built to play from behind, especially when José Ramírez isn’t hitting for power. 

The 33-year-old from Bani, Dominican Republic, had a brutal series with negative impact, a surprising result for such a legendary player and icon of Cleveland. 

Ramirez, caught stealing after he tied Game 3 in the fourth with an RBI single, was also thrown out in the eighth when Tigers reliever Will Vest dropped the ball at first base and Ramirez dashed for second—ending the rally on the bases. 

What he did in Game 1, getting caught between third and home with no outs, in a rundown on a grounder to Vest was inexcusable.

On the other side, right-hander Jack Flaherty did everything the Tigers could’ve asked from him, going 4 ⅔ innings with four strikeouts and one run allowed. He gave Detroit a chance to deploy the bullpen plan they wanted to, and executed it to perfection. The only runs their bullpen allowed were those two unearned runs on the drop by Vest.

Another reason why the Tigers won Game 3 was that all of their big boppers showed up. Kerry Carpenter was first up with an RBI double to give the Tigers an early 1-0 lead in the third.

‘’I feel like I can get my best swing off and still make contact, there’s a little more of trying to see the ball a little deeper and make better decisions,” Carpenter said about changing his approach for the postseason.

“The wind was howling in the last couple of days, so there are no cheap ones. So getting on base, trying to get Tork (Spencer Torkelson) up, trying to get Riley (Greene) up, something I was a little conscious of for sure.”

Carpenter had a strong series, going 4-for-10 (.400 batting average) with one RBI and five walks.  

Last year, the Guardians ended the Tigers’ season on the same field in Game 5 of the American League Division Series. Carpenter reflected on that earlier in the day prior to first pitch and if it was something he could use going into Game 3. 

“The experience of being in a winner-take-all last year was something that’s helping us right now, I think,” he said. “Other than that, I don’t know if there’s anything because it’s different teams, different guys we’re facing and stuff. It’s just kind of a fun experience that we had, that we can learn from last year and realize that this is everything. There’s no saving your body. There’s nothing like 162 anymore.” 

Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene each added RBI singles for two insurance runs to stretch the lead to 6-1 after the seventh, and the Tigers never looked back. 

They will now look forward to an ALDS matchup with the Seattle Mariners starting this Saturday in Seattle at T-Mobile Park.

The Guardians have nothing to be ashamed of and despite the loss they will always have MLB’s all-time record of the largest divisional comeback in MLB history against the Tigers at 15.5 games.

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