Record-setting performances from Steven Kwan, Cade Smith helped Guardians get past Tigers in ALDS

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Record-setting performances by reliever Cade Smith and leadoff hitter Steven Kwan throughout the American League Division Series, but particularly in Game 5, helped the Guardians put away the Tigers and advance to a showdown with the Yankees. Smith and Kwan wrote their names in the Cleveland franchise record books and equaled some Major League Baseball superlatives over the course of five intense games against their Central Division rivals. With Saturday’s victory, Smith and Kwan will have a chance to showcase their talents at the next playoff level beginning Monday when the Guardians open the American League Championship Series against New York in Yankee Stadium. Here’s what each of them accomplished in the ALDS. • None Struck out 12 batters in the ALDS, setting a new MLB record for a reliever in a division series. Smith broke the previous mark of 11 set by Nick Pivetta of Boston in 2021. • None Became the first pitcher in Cleveland history to appear in all five games of a division series, a feat equaled by Tim Herrin when he entered Game 5 in the sixth. • None Smith entered Game 5 in the third inning, the earliest he had ever appeared in a major league game after pitching in the fourth inning on July 28 against Philadelphia and in the fourth on Sept. 25 against Cincinnati. • None Became the first Cleveland player and third in MLB history to collect three hits or more in three straight postseason games. • None Extended his playoff hitting streak to 10 games, matching Kenny Lofton in 1995 for the franchise record. • None His 11 hits in the ALDS are a new club record for a single division series, besting his own record of nine from the 2022 ALDS against New York (also Omar Vizquel in 1997, 2001). • None Kwan’s 20 hits are the most by a Cleveland player through 12 career playoff games, passing Lofton’s 18 in 1995. After dealing with two stints on the injured list to address hamstring and back issues, Kwan said finding success in the postseason, and against Skubal in particular was all about trying to execute his plan at the plate. “Once you hit the ball you can’t really control where it goes,” Kwan said. “So put some good swings on it. Saw (Skubal) obviously earlier, so that really helped. But, I mean, it’s baseball. It’s hard sometimes, and when it’s good, it’s good.” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch called Kwan the “engine” for Cleveland that “creates a lot of pressure.” “He’s a problem,” Hinch said. “When he gets in this mode where he’s pulling the ball and he’s shooting balls up the middle and he’s able to stay on balls down the left field line, he’s really hard to deal with.” Kwan said the extra rest between the end of the regular season and the playoff opener last week, and his time on the injured list in September also helped his performance. “It, 10, 12 days off, so the body was a little fresher than I think other people’s were,” Kwan said. “Hard to say. Just a variance, I guess, putting some good swings on it.” Lane Thomas, whose grand slam in the fifth inning was made possible by Kwan’s one-out base hit off Skubal, said watching Kwan hit helps everybody behind him in the lineup. “You don’t get to hit in situations without guys taking good bats in front of you, and it’s contagious,” Thomas said. “You want to come through because they came through.” Smith said he had an idea that he could be entering the game earlier that usual after Matthew Boyd put up two scoreless innings. “We’ve seen that all series that we were ready to go to the bullpen early, but just kind of really living out the mentality that it’s all hands on deck. Whatever it takes to win the game today, that’s what we were prepared for down there.” Hinch praised Smith for the volume of work that he produced throughout the series and his ability to remain at a high level through all five outings. “We put some good swings on those guys, and I do think seeing them a lot helped us a little bit as it got on,” Hinch said. “But they’re so hard to score against and so hard to match up against because they can create swing and miss in soft contact and high in velo, high in spin, high in everything, and that’s why they won 90-plus games, and that’s why they’re advancing.” In his first playoff experience, Smith appeared in two elimination games and was 1-0 with a 1.42 ERA and 0.47 WHIP in 6 1/3 innings. He said afterward that he is not taking a second of the experience for granted. “This is a special thing to be a part of,” Smith said. “Seeing the group really rally together and not be afraid to compete and fight back, and even if our backs have been up against the wall in the elimination games, just still knowing that we can do it and get the job done. We’ve just got to stay within ourselves and play our game.”