DETROIT -- In a span of 98 hours, the Guardians went from setting a dominating tone in the American League Division Series, to letting a close game against a Cy Young favorite slip away, to being on the brink of elimination.

Everything can happen in the blink of an eye in the playoffs, and the third-youngest team in baseball with a rookie manager at the helm are all learning that the hard way after dropping Game 3 against the Tigers, 3-0, at Comerica Park on Wednesday afternoon.

It wasn’t an elimination game, and the Guardians still have a chance to advance to their first ALCS since 2016 by winning Games 4 and 5, but Game 3 carried nearly the same significance as a do-or-die matchup. Why?

Entering the 2024 Division Series, best-of-five postseason series that have been tied 1-1 have seen the team winning Game 3 go on to take the series 45 of 62 times (73%). Under the current 2-2-1 format, teams leading 2-1 and playing Game 4 at home had taken the series 25 of 31 times (81%). Of those 25 series victories, 18 came at home in Game 4.

The Guardians are cornered. They have no wiggle room anymore. But now, they have to learn from their experience in Game 3 to make sure their unexpectedly successful 2024 season doesn’t come to an end on Thursday night.

First, their offense will have to find a spark plug. Cleveland was held scoreless in Games 2 and 3. Not once this season were the Guardians shut out in back-to-back games. It’s been since the sixth inning since Game 1 that this lineup was able to push a run across the plate. And now that they’ve watched Detroit’s “pitching chaos” in two different games, they should have as much information as they could ask for going into a Game 4 that will likely be approached in the same manner.

The Guardians will have Tanner Bibee back on the mound Thursday, which certainly plays in their favor. But even if they win Game 4, they would have to face Tarik Skubal again in Game 5. Losing on Wednesday put the toughest road ahead of them, but Cleveland has had an underdog mentality from the start of Spring Training. It has proven people wrong before and now will try to do it again.