“Sparkplug” Steven Kwan sets the tone against the Tigers while the Guardians show no hint of rust

Cleveland – Walking around Progressive Field before, during and after a game, inside and outside the ballpark, you'll see a lot of red, white and blue Jose Ramirez jerseys and shirseys. Certainly more than any other Guardians player.

But Steven Kwan's fan base isn't exactly the distant second you might think. There are 38s everywhere.

And it only took a few moments in Game 1 of the American League Division Series to realize why. Kwan is the fire of this team, and he was there again when he faced the Tigers. Kwan hit a double off the wall in right field in a left-to-left battle against Detroit's Tyler Holton and moved his arms as he reached second base.

He scored in no time, and then the four teammates who followed him in the lineup also scored as Cleveland went 5-0 en route to a dominant 7-0 win in the best-of-five series Leadership went.

“It was great,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “Kwan goes out and sets the tone and it just worked from there. … It was huge to get those runs on the board and kind of get momentum.”

One of the biggest questions the Guardians had to face in this series was whether they would get rusty. Saturday was their first game in a week after a bye in the regular-season finale last Sunday, while the Tigers faced (and won) a first-round game against the Houston Astros to set up that series.

Well, if that was the Guardians at their best, the Tigers don't want to see them once they find a rhythm.

Kwan praised the Guardians coaching staff for a good week of work on their days off, which included simulated games.

“It's definitely been a theme for a lot of coaches to not go in and just go through the motions, but try to be really determined and do a really good job,” Kwan said. “It worked today.

“It’s Game 1. You never know what’s going to happen after that with preparation.”

The Guardians looked like a prepared bunch Saturday against Holton, who didn't allow a run in 12 innings against Cleveland during the regular season.

Kwan, an All-Star this season, led off with the double and David Fry walked, leaving Tigers manager AJ Hinch without a chance to do what he loves, intentionally walk Ramirez. Ramirez hit a short two-strike pitch that was barely scored on the ground, then hit a hard chopper to third that got past Zach McKinstry and scored Kwan. The next batter, Josh Naylor, blasted the ball through the tucked infield on the right side to make it 2-0 and end Holton's day.

Reese Olson made his first postseason appearance and his first substitute appearance all season. The first batter he faced, trade deadline acquisition Lane Thomas, hit a hanging slider for a three-run homer to left. Thomas met Olson earlier this season while playing for Washington.

“I didn’t even see it,” Kwan said of the homer. “It was great. The boys were on fire. I was on the iPad watching some stuff and I just heard the guys going crazy.”

Asked if it was fun to blow up the Tigers' unorthodox opening strategy, Kwan said, “Yeah, that's cool.”

The five-run first – Cleveland became the first American League team to open a playoff game with five runs without making an out – came after the Tigers played starter Tanner Bibee, the Colt Keith, in their first half brought to the line with two runners stranded out to left to end the inning. Minutes later, the Guardians struck hard and the Tigers couldn't get back up. It was a big change in momentum and more than enough for Bibee, who settled in to go 4.2 innings, leaving the game to loud applause – and then waving his arms in front of the sellout crowd of more than 33,000 panning, causing an even louder roar. What followed were four relievers who showed why the Guardians have the best bullpen in the MLB, in case the Tigers had forgotten.

The Tigers struck out 13 times, with right-hander Cade Smith striking out all four batters he faced while throwing 15 of 18 pitches for strikes.

“Getting Game 1 was very important,” said reliever Tim Herrin, who had two strikeouts and drew a walk in his only inning. “After I had this week off, there were questions about leftover vs. rust. We put in the work this week.

“Tomorrow is a new day. You don’t want to get too high.”

Especially with Tigers ace Tarik Skubal, who will be the clear Cy Young winner and won the American League Triple Crown, set to start for the Tigers in Game 2. In many ways, as Fox Sports analyst Ben Verlander (Justin's younger brother and (a former Tigers prospect) wrote on X on Saturday), Game 1 was basically a must-win for the Guardians.

Kwan, who scored two runs and two walks, got it going and the Guardians kept it going.

There was no sign of rust.

“Kwannie has been our spark plug all year,” Vogt said of the 5-foot-11 Kwan, a 3.9 WAR dynamo who posted a .793 OPS, 14 home runs, 44 RBIs and 12 had stolen bases, which is likely to win his third Gold Glove in three years in left field. “Where he goes, we go.

“We were ready to swing the bat and it looked like we didn’t take five days off.”

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@tonypaul1984

“Sparkplug” Steven Kwan sets the tone against the Tigers while the Guardians show no hint of rust

ByVanessa

By Vanessa

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