Guardians facing biggest test of the season in Game 5 against Tarik Skubal, Tigers

Throughout the regular season and four games of the Division Series, the Guardians have faced countless challenges. But today at Progressive Field, they will take their biggest test. Playing an elimination game for the second straight time in the series, Cleveland must beat arguably the best pitcher in the American League in Tarik Skubal and the Tigers to advance to the ALCS to face the Yankees. "We're going out to compete," Jose Ramirez said through an interpreter. "I feel he should be asked the same question, 'How is it going to feel facing our lineup as well.' We've faced him countless times in the past. We've got good results. They have good results. It's going to be a competition. And I trust my guys to go after it." Ramirez and his guys just saw Skubal in Detroit's 3-0 Game 2 victory at Progressive Field on Monday. Skubal got the good results that day, tossing seven scoreless innings and allowing three hits while striking out eight. "I think there's two sides," said David Fry, whose pinch-hit home run in the seventh inning of Game 4 helped force Game 5. "As a pitcher you could say it's easier facing a lineup that you just saw. You know how the hitters are going to attack you, and vice versa. We've played these guys so much this season, and it's been I think neck-and-neck the entire season with the season series. It'll be a good ballgame." "I think our team wouldn't want to have it any other way," Skubal said of playing Game 5. "We've been playing these winner-take-all games for about a month and a half, two months now. And it's fun. It's why you play the game, for moments like this and for stages like this in this setting." Squaring off against Skubal for the second time in the series will be Matthew Boyd — a former teammate of Skubal's with the Tigers. "I mean, to me, pitching is pitching," Boyd said. "The hitter is going to tell you what needs to be done. And, at this point in the year, they have a good idea what I do, I have a good idea what they do, and it just comes down to execution and whatnot." Skubal, the likely AL Cy Young award winner after going 18-4 with a 2.39 ERA over 31 regular-season starts, brings an arsenal few, if any, possess. "His stuff, his demeanor, his confidence," Vogt said when asked what makes the left-hander so tough. "He can throw pitches at any time to any part of the zone. He can add, subtract. He can move, shape the ball differently. He's just a premier pitcher with elite stuff, and we got our work cut out for us." But the Guardians have faced adversity head-on all year, losing their ace Shane Bieber two starts into the season and breaking a streak of 11 straight losses in elimination games in front of the Tigers' largest postseason crowd ever Thursday night. "These guys have been resilient all year," catcher and clubhouse leader Austin Hedges said. "(Thursday) was a perfect example of it, backs against the wall on the road against a hot team that's playing really good baseball, and didn't matter if we were up or down. "I feel like guys are still playing our game, and when we play our game, we're a tough team to beat." And the Guardiac Kids will have the crowd on their side in a sold-out stadium. "I know they're going to pack it out and they're going to be loud," Tanner Bibee said. "We're going to need them. It's going to be a fun game." "They're going to be so excited," Hedges said of Cleveland fans. "They're going to be there early and cheering us on and loud. Cleveland in the playoffs is as good as it gets. "We're looking forward to going out there and then clinching this Division Series and moving on." Even after winning the opening game of the series 7-0, Vogt said he expected the series to go the distance. "I don't think anybody thought this wasn't going to go five games," he said. "It's the way our season's been. It's the way their season's been. It's been the way our head-to-head matchups have been. "It's going to be a fun day. I don't know how it's going to shake out. I don't know who's going to win. Somebody's gotta win, somebody's gotta lose, and I know it's going to be a really fun day at the ballpark, and I'm confident our guys are going to come out ready to go." Contact Chris Assenheimer at (440) 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @CAwesomeheimer on X.