CLEVELAND — Lane Thomas provided the signature swings of the American League Division Series to send the Guardians back to the AL Championship Series for the first time since 2016.

Thomas belted a three-run homer to highlight a five-run first inning in Cleveland’s lopsided win in Game 1 last Saturday. The in-season acquisition launched a grand slam one week later to fuel the Guardians to a 7-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers in the decisive contest in the best-of-five series.

Cleveland will visit the New York Yankees in Game 1 of the ALCS on Monday. The Yankees won four of the six meetings against the Guardians in the regular season.

“I keep being so proud of this group,” Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said postgame in the locker room. “Back against the wall. We’re never out of it. We answer and we shut ’em down. We still got work to do. Let’s freakin’ go.”

The champagne showers began nary a moment after Vogt finished speaking.

Thomas, who added an RBI single in the seventh inning, has paid significant dividends since the Guardians acquired him from the Washington Nationals on July 29 in exchange for third baseman Jose Tena and minor leaguers Alex Clemmey and Rafael Ramirez Jr.

“When we were approaching the trade deadline, we identified Lane as a player that we wanted,” Vogt said. “He fit a lot of what we needed, and this guy’s been a great player in this league for a few years now.

“Lane has just been — obviously had a great series for us, the two biggest hits, outside of (David) Fry’s homer (in Game 4). But Lane is a phenomenal baseball player, and we’re thankful we got him.”

Jose Ramirez forged a 1-1 tie in the fifth inning after he was hit by a pitch in the left forearm with the bases loaded.

Thomas stepped up and deposited a first-pitch sinker from Tigers ace Tarik Skubal (1-1) over the wall in left-center field for Cleveland’s first grand slam in the postseason since Francisco Lindor accomplished the feat against the Yankees in the ALDS in 2017.

“You dream of at-bats like that as a little kid, and to do it at this stage, in this game and to come through for the guys in the clubhouse, it feels awesome,” Thomas said.

Thomas’ homer was the first allowed by Skubal (1-1) since Sept. 12. The AL Cy Young candidate gave up five runs on six hits with one walk and six strikeouts over six innings.

“This one is going to eat at him through the entire offseason because of what was at stake,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said of Skubal. “But give me that guy again in a playoff series, in a playoff-deciding game, and I look forward to putting his name in the starting lineup as a pitcher.”

Tim Herrin (1-0) allowed one run on one hit in 1 1/3 innings to pick up the win.

Steven Kwan collected three hits for the third straight game and improved to 11-for-21 with six runs in the series.

Kerry Carpenter had a pinch-hit RBI single in the fifth to open the scoring for the Tigers. Carpenter was held out of the starting lineup due to a left hamstring injury sustained after he rounded third and scored a run in the sixth inning of Game 4.

“I think we’re here to stay,” Carpenter said. “I think everybody in this organization is really excited. We put the world on notice that we can do big things in this clubhouse with these guys.”

Trey Sweeney worked a five-pitch walk off Andrew Walters to open the fifth before Carpenter hobbled to the plate in place of Justyn-Henry Malloy. Carpenter sent a 3-1 fastball from Walter off the base of the wall in right-center field, and Sweeney was able to beat the relay home after he slid his left hand across the plate ahead of the tag by catcher Bo Naylor.

Jake Rogers had an RBI single to right field in the sixth and Colt Keith added an RBI double to center in the seventh to trim the Guardians’ lead to 5-3. After Keith’s double, Eli Morgan replaced Hunter Gaddis and struck out both Wenceel Perez and Spencer Torkelson to end the threat.

Morgan walked Parker Meadows to start the eighth before Emmanuel Clase entered the contest and retired all six batters he faced to notch his second save of the series.

–Field Level Media