Which 4 players could be the key to Guardians advancing?

CLEVELAND -- The Guardians have played at drastically opposite ends of the spectrum in this American League Division Series against the Tigers, creating quite the quandary on how they’ll show up for a winner-take-all Game 5 on Saturday at Progressive Field.

The Guards ran away to a dominant victory in the opener, went scoreless for a season-worst 20 straight innings after, leading to shutouts in Games 2 and 3, then gave the “Gritty Tigers” a taste of their own medicine with a resilient comeback in Game 4 to keep their season alive.

Essentially, Cleveland has looked like its best and worst over this past week. And all that awaits is a rematch with Tarik Skubal, arguably the best pitcher in the Majors in 2024.

Here are three players that the Guardians need to perform at their best in order to advance to a date with the Yankees in the AL Championship Series, which begins on Monday in the Bronx.

3B José Ramírez
This one is obvious, especially given how intangible his production can be, to the point of contagious. Ramírez’s emphatic homer in Game 4 was only a solo shot, but it pushed the Guards to a 2-1 lead in the eventual 5-4 win and gave what had been a scuffling offense new life.

“It energized our dugout like you wouldn't believe,” Guards manager Stephen Vogt said.

• Tigers-Guardians ALDS Game 5 FAQ

The key for Cleveland will be to create traffic in front of him, a threat that Tigers manager A.J. Hinch discussed at the very outset of this series. Ramírez has gone 2-for-14, with seven of his 16 plate appearances featuring runners in scoring position. However, Hinch intentionally walked him in two of those.

“Just trying to avoid the big at-bat coming down to him,” Hinch said.

Ramírez has a .591 slugging percentage this season with runners in scoring position, including the playoffs, underscoring his big breakthroughs in the clutch. And he’s 9-for-21 in his career with three doubles vs. Skubal, who worked out of key jams by inducing double plays amid a scoreless tie in the fifth and sixth innings in Game 2, paving the way for seven shutout innings.

Putting pressure on the AL Cy Young Award favorite before Ramírez steps to the plate will be vital.

A combination of DH David Fry/OF Lane Thomas
The Guardians can apply that pressure via the only other players who’ve homered in this series, which not coincidentally were each part of their two victories. If Vogt rolls with the same lineup as Game 2, Fry will hit second and Thomas fourth, sandwiched around Ramírez in the three-hole.

Hinch has aggressively deployed his “pitching chaos” with an effort to limit Cleveland from seeing his army of arms multiple times. In that context, Fry was asked if seeing Skubal so recently could play to the Guards’ advantage.

“I think there are two sides,” Fry said. “As a pitcher, you could say it's easier facing a lineup that you just saw, you know how the hitters are going to attack you, and vice versa. ... I think we'll have a pretty good game plan to go against him. He's had a heck of a season.”

RHP Andrew Walters
Matthew Boyd gets the start again for the Guardians, but he certainly will be on a short, short leash with the series balance riding on the outcome of Game 5. The bullpen’s Big Four of Tim Herrin, Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis and Emmanuel Clase will obviously be in play. But the entire bullpen will be in an all-hands-on-deck mode. As such, Vogt will assuredly lean on the entire group to avoid elimination. That figures to feature key pockets from Cleveland’s more under-the-radar -- but just as vital -- relievers on Saturday.

Walters, whose only postseason action thus far has been a scoreless seventh inning in Game 3, could see leverage sequences in Game 5, especially against righties, perhaps in an attempt to protect him.

Called up from Triple-A Columbus on Sept. 12, Walters has made just 10 appearances since, but has surrendered only one hit and one unearned run, with seven strikeouts among 35 batters faced. He also has five walks, which must be avoided in these types of contests.

He throws hard -- sitting at 96 mph and topping out at 98 mph -- and can miss bats. The key for the rookie could come down to harnessing adrenaline and blocking out internal pressure.