One pitch, four runs: Thomas tanks huge 5th-inning grand slam

DETROIT -- It was like a scene from your favorite baseball movie.

A sold-out Progressive Field crowd roared as José Ramírez trotted to first base after getting hit in the elbow by a 99.9 mph heater from Tarik Skubal to tie the game in the fifth. The bases were loaded for Lane Thomas -- the Trade Deadline acquisition that the Guardians hoped could bring a little life to the offense. But no one could have foreseen this.

Thomas turned on the first pitch from Skubal and crushed it over the 19-foot wall in left field, marking the sixth postseason grand slam in Cleveland history -- the first since Francisco Lindor’s blast against the Yankees in Game 2 of the 2017 ALDS. At the time, it put the Guardians ahead, 5-1, in Game 5 of the American League Division Series on Saturday after they had struggled to get anything going against the AL Cy Young favorite through the first four innings.

The Guardians’ dugout emptied onto the field. Brayan Rocchio leaped into Jhonkensy Noel’s arms like they were reenacting their favorite romantic comedy movie scene. Rocchio jumped back to the ground and ran to Austin Hedges, who nearly knocked Rocchio over with an emphatic, double high five. Rocchio turned to the crowd and flung his arms over his head repeatedly, signaling for the crowd to yell even louder than the ear-piercing decibel they had been.

But this team wanted Thomas to feel the love as he rounded third base. His teammates were almost running alongside him in excitement as those who were on base greeted him with hugs and high fives at the plate. Thomas has gone out of his way to constantly credit this clubhouse for making him feel so welcomed so quickly after he was the new kid in school at the end of July.

Thomas’ first game with the Guardians came against Detroit on July 30. Then, he was overwhelmed, trying to find his footing. Cleveland won that day, even though Thomas didn’t play a major role in the victory. When Hedges gathered his team in the clubhouse postgame, he made a welcome speech to his new teammate and said, “This is what a winning ballclub is like.”

Just over two months later, Thomas, in a win-or-go-home scenario, gave his team a chance to win at least one more time -- a script even Hollywood couldn’t write.