Cade Smith's record-breaking performance leads the Guardians' dominant bullpen in ALDS Game 1

Smith became the first player in major league history to strike out every batter he faced for at least 1 1/3 innings in his postseason debut and only the fourth pitcher to strike out four batters over 1 in his first playoff game 1/3 innings pitched, Cleveland defeated Detroit 7-0 to take a one-game lead in the best-of-five divisional round series.

Before the game, Smith spoke about staying level-headed, focusing on what he can control and not letting things outside of his control get the best of him.

“But there’s no doubt about it, I’m excited,” Smith said. “That’s what we’re here for. That's what we like to do. We were looking forward to that. That’s why you put in a lot of work and it’s time to just let it flow.”

Smith also became the third relief pitcher in Cleveland history to earn a win in his first playoff game. He joins Sam Hentges in Game 2 of the 2020 AL Wild Card Series against Tampa Bay and Ken Hill in Game 1 of the 1995 ALDS against Boston.

Cleveland's bullpen pitched 4 1/3 scoreless innings of relief after Bibee's departure. It was the seventh time the Guardians' bullpen has thrown 4 1/3 or more scoreless innings in a postseason game and the first since Game 2 of the 2022 ALDS against the Yankees.

Tim Herrin, Hunter Gaddis and Emmanuel Clase each pitched a scoreless inning, with Herrin's leadoff walk to Jake Rogers in the seventh marking the only Detroit batter to reach base.

Bibee said this type of performance is what everyone expects from Smith.

“Giving up the ball with him, I've done that a few times this year when I came out in the middle of the inning and Cade came in, and I felt like that almost every time he closed the door. That's why after the game I'm extremely confident that he will do his job. They’ve done it all year and they’ll continue to do it.”

On Friday, David Fry joked with reporters that games sometimes seem like a race to see how quickly the Guardians can get the ball to Smith and the big arms that follow him out of the box. On Saturday, the game went as Fry and his teammates expected.

“It’s just incredible what they’ve done,” Fry said. “It's just so reassuring to say, OK, Cade Smith, here you go. You're going to beat pretty much everyone you face, and he does that all year long. Even today we were joking about it in the dugout, like, 'What do you think, Cade Smith in the second?' It's just – they're that good.

The consistency of Cleveland's bullpen has also made manager Stephen Vogt's job easier.

“At that point, Cade was very special,” Vogt said. “You never want to say you're not surprised, but what Cade has done all year, what Timmy (Herrin) has done all year, Gaddy (Hunter Gaddis), (Emmanuel) Clase, some of our bullpen guys , and pitching in general was fun. But Cade, there's no heartbeat. There is no pulse. You just have to come in and do the work.”

Vogt said the way Saturday's game played allowed him to use all four pitchers since they hadn't appeared in a game in more than a week.

“To their credit, they pitched about 4 1/3 (innings) and none of them were overwhelmed with their pitch count,” Vogt said. “It was really impressive what work these four guys did.”

Tigers manager AJ Hinch said he sensed no concern among his hitters and praised Cleveland's replacements for taking care of business the way they did. He said Steven Kwan's ability to get on base early was key, but Detroit is confident heading into Monday's second game with top hitter Tarik Skubal on the mound.

“Of course they’re good, you know, and that’s their best,” Hinch said. “You have an All-Star at the top setting the tone and a beast in the middle and a lot of different people putting pressure on you, and then we saw their big bullpen. This is obviously Game 1 and we have a day off to reset. We were really good at it. And we plan to give our best in Game 2.”

Kwan doesn't expect anything to change as the series progresses. The Guardians will have to rely heavily on their bullpen, which has consistently performed well.

“They were obviously a big part of our season,” Kwan said. “This 1- or 2-run league sometimes feels a little bigger when they're at the top and we still have to do our job on defense. It’s not always going to be a four-batter, four-strikeout performance from Cade, but I mean it’s in there, which is really nice.”