Tigers, Royals Steal Road Wins in ALDS Game 2

Underdogs had a great Monday night in Major League Baseball, with both ALDS matchups now being tied up at one game apiece.

Starting in Cleveland, the Detroit Tigers snuck past the Guardians behind seven scoreless innings from Tarik Skubal. Kansas City ended the night locking down the Yankees offense in a 4-2 win for the Royals.

This #Postseason is the best!!! pic.twitter.com/tA1GOovKIz

— MLB (@MLB) October 8, 2024

Tigers Pounce in the Ninth

After a 7-0 loss in Game 1, Detroit hoped for a much better performance Monday night.

Although the Tigers offense did not do him many favors, the AL Cy Young-favorite Tarik Skubal had another flawless performance in Game 2. Allowing only three hits and no runs against Cleveland, Skubal has now pitched 13 scoreless innings for the Tigers in the playoffs thus far.

Tarik Skubal's #postseason numbers through 2 starts:

13 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 14 K pic.twitter.com/GnSbTgSl1P

— MLB (@MLB) October 7, 2024

Entering the ninth inning, the Tigers and the Guardians were deadlocked at 0-0. Cleveland closer Emmmanuel Clase, regarded as one of the MLB’s best relievers, was on the mound for the Guardians.

However, Detroit got two runners on base before pinch hitter Kerry Carpenter changed the series in one swing.

https://twitter.com/tigers/status/1843421099201020249

Carpenter’s 423-foot home run gave the Tigers a 3-0 lead. It turned out to be all Detroit needed.

Reliever Beau Brieske got the save to earn Detroit a Game 2 win.

Yankee Stars Shut Down

In the second game on Monday night, Kansas City looked to make up for a disappointing loss on Saturday. In Game 1, the Royals gave up the lead on three separate occasions before losing 6-5.

Although New York grabbed a 1-0 lead early in Game 2, Royals captain Salvador Perez gave his team momentum they would keep throughout the night.

https://twitter.com/Royals/status/1843452063466008832

After Perez’s homer made the score 1-1, the Royals added four more hits in the fourth inning to give Kansas a 4-1 lead. The scoring burst forced the Yankees to pull starter Carlos Rodon after just 3 2/3 innings pitched. Relief pitching dominated for both teams for the rest of the game.

The Yankees could not generate any offense, with superstar Aaron Judge’s postseason struggles continuing and Juan Soto unable to get a hit in the game.

Aaron Judge has the worst strikeout rate in MLB postseason history pic.twitter.com/SrxIQOg7S7

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) October 8, 2024

Although Jazz Chisholm added a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth, the Yankees sputtered to a 4-2 loss.

Up Next

Both ALDS series’ now change locations and will be playing Game 3’s on Wednesday with both series tied 1-1.

Comerica Park hosts its first postseason game in a decade when Cleveland comes to town to face the Tigers at 3:00 p.m.

The Royals host the Yankees at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City at 7:00 p.m.