CLEVELAND \u2014 It was the ninth inning, and Tarik Skubal had just emerged from the weight room when he heard the roar coming from the Detroit Tigers\u2019 dugout.<\/p>\n
He stepped into the training room at Progressive Field and shot his eyes toward the television on tape delay.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re gonna like what just happened,\u201d he announced.<\/p>\n
Then Skubal saw the two-out, 1-2 pitch from Emmanuel Clase to Parker Meadows. A cutter spiked in the dirt.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was like, \u2018That wasn\u2019t that good,\u201d Skubal said.<\/p>\n
What he didn\u2019t initially realize was that the ball trickled away from Guardians catcher Bo Naylor. Although the ball barely left the dirt surrounding home plate, Naylor struggled to locate the ball and retrieve it.<\/p>\n
On third base, Zach McKinstry had been waiting for a two-strike pitch just like this one.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt came,\u201d McKinstry said, \u201cso I was ready for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nwild pic.twitter.com\/zrN8KiSMkO<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Detroit Tigers (@tigers) July 6, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
McKinstry had entered the game as a pinch-runner for Spencer Torkelson, who reached against Clase via hit by pitch. Torkelson remained in the game as Wenceel P\u00e9rez flew out to left field.<\/p>\n
From the dugout, manager A.J. Hinch and his coaches watched Clase\u2019s high leg kick from the stretch. Before the next batter, McKinstry \u2014 who has stolen successfully in 26 of his past 29 attempts over two seasons \u2014 jogged out to first. The substitution meant McKinstry would play first base in the event of extra innings. The super-utility player had never before played first in a major-league game.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told Tork when he came off the field to keep his glove close because I think Z-Mack was gonna need to use it,\u201d Hinch said. \u201cI don\u2019t think he\u2019s ever put a first base glove on.\u201d<\/p>\n
McKinstry saw a high leg kick, broke and stole second. He was initially called out, but the play was overturned on review. He advanced to third on a Dillon Dingler groundout.<\/p>\n
That leads us back to the play that changed the game.<\/p>\n
On the wild pitch to Meadows, McKinstry broke toward the plate without hesitation. Clase ran toward home in vain. McKinstry sprinted and scored standing up.<\/p>\n
Inside, Skubal\u2019s face lit up.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was like, \u2018Actually, that\u2019s really good,\u2019\u201d Skubal said.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s how the Tigers tied Sunday\u2019s game at 1-1. And in this charmed season, that was only a small part of how Detroit overcame being one-hit for nine innings to finish Sunday with a 7-2 victory.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always thought we were gonna win by 5,\u201d Skubal joked after the game.<\/p>\n
The Tigers\u2019 victory was just as improbable as it was remarkable. They escaped a shaky relief performance from Bailey Horn in the eighth. And with their bullpen depleted, sidearmer Chase Lee held the Guardians scoreless in the ninth to force extras.<\/p>\n
There the Guardians brought in hard-throwing right-hander Cade Smith, who had allowed only one run in seven previous regular-season appearances against the Tigers. Last year in the postseason, Smith appeared in all five games of the ALDS. He surrendered only one run and struck out 12 Detroit batters in 6 1\/3 innings.<\/p>\n
But Sunday in what had been a teeth-grinding pitchers\u2019 duel, Smith yielded a single to Javier B\u00e1ez. Meadows was on base as the automatic runner in extra innings. At the plate, Trey Sweeney \u2014 the infielder who was optioned last week and brought back only four days ago after Kerry Carpenter went on the injured list \u2014 came to the plate.<\/p>\n
Sweeney had been slumbering with the bat in general.<\/p>\n
He had faced Smith only one previous time and struck out.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s kind of blown it past me,\u201d Sweeney said.<\/p>\n
To that point, Sweeney had never hit a home run against a fastball in 356 MLB plate appearances, and Smith boasts one of the best fastballs in the league.<\/p>\n
On a 1-0 pitch, however, Smith threw a 97.8 mph four-seamer high and over the outer third of the plate. Sweeney unleashed a tight swing and sent the ball screaming over left field until it finally collided with the foul pole. The ball bounced over concrete toward the left-field gate. Sweeney\u2019s three-run home run was one of those baseball moments that makes the sport so wondrous and unpredictable.<\/p>\n
\nTrey Sweeney puts the Gritty Tigs on top in the 10th! \ud83d\ude31 pic.twitter.com\/bitc7yQ569<\/a><\/p>\n