Guardians Force AL Wild Card Game 3

The Cleveland Guardians evened the AL Wild Card series with a 6-1 Game 2 victory over the Detroit Tigers after Brayan Rocchio, Bo Naylor and George Valera homered in a five-run eighth that broke a 1-1 tie. Jakob Junis and the Guardians bullpen held Detroit scoreless over 5 1/3 innings as the Tigers went 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position and stranded a franchise-record 15 men. Cleveland is slated to start Slade Cecconi against Detroit’s Jack Flaherty in the deciding Game 3 in Cleveland on Thursday. Questions remain about Guardians bullpen availability: Cade Smith’s heavy recent workload likely makes him unavailable, prompting debate over the decision to start Cecconi instead of Joey Cantillo. The winner will advance to face the Seattle Mariners in the AL Division Series. Detroit players said they remain confident despite the loss and the team’s late-season struggles.