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Jason Foley opened the ninth with a 3-0 lead and gave up a rocket double to Yordan Alvarez and then a pair of rather unlucky hits on grounders, making it a 3-1 game. Jeremy Peña followed with a sac bunt that advanced both runners. With the Tigers wanting strikeouts more than grounders at that point, Brieske replaced Foley. Brieske didn’t actually produce any strikeouts; his outs both came on liners, with a walk in between, but the end result was as hoped.

Details on Rogers’ injury are scarce. It’s unclear when and how he suffered the injury as well as if he injured his wrist or forearm. Rogers has started all six playoff games for the Tigers so far and caught all of Tarik Skubal’s starts during the regular season. Dillon Dingler is the backup option if Rogers can’t go in Game 5 on Saturday.

Stanton’s RBI single in the sixth inning gave the Yankees a 3-0 lead. Stanton hit .375 with a 1.132 OPS and four RBI in the series. The 34-year-old even had a stolen base in the series. While his speed is diminished compared to earlier in his career, Stanton was the Yankees’ best hitter in the ALDS.

Weaver saved all three games of the ALDS for the Yankees. After grabbing the closer’s job down the stretch of the season, he’s now one of the big reasons the Yankees are advancing to the ALCS. Weaver struck out two batters in a perfect ninth inning. He didn’t allow a run and had a 0.46 WHIP in 4 1/3 innings in the series.

Torres started the game with a leadoff double and scored on an RBI single by Juan Soto. In the fifth inning, he drove Alex Verdugo in with a two-out RBI single. Torres hit .200 in the series, but had an .857 OPS with a home run and three RBI. He seemed to be involved in much of the Yankees run scoring over the four games against the Royals.

Wacha gave up six hits, walked one and struck out two. Wacha allowed a run before he recorded an out in the first inning. Gleyber Torres led off the game with a double and Juan Soto drove him in with a single. In the fifth inning, Torres drove in Alex Verdugo with an RBI single. Those were the only runs scored against Wacha, who was on regular rest after pitching Game 1. After signing a two-year, $32 million contract with the Royals last offseason, Wacha has the option to opt out of the last year of his contract this offseason.

Cole gave up six hits, walked none and struck out four. He hadn’t pitched in nine days before his Game 1 start and wasn’t sharp, but Cole turned in a vintage performance in a clinching game for New York on Thursday. Cole lines up to have four days of rest before Game 2 of the ALCS next Tuesday.

No surprise here. Skubal is the Tigers’ ace and will receive the American League Cy Young award this offseason. He threw seven shutout innings and got a no-decision in Detroit’s dramatic victory in Game 2. Skubal will be on four days’ rest for the decisive Game 5.

Carpenter was seen hobbling off the field after running the bases and was pinch hit for when his spot came up in the batting order again. While Hinch wouldn’t officially comment on Carpenter’s status, he noted that whenever a player has to leave a game it’s concerning. Carpenter’s status for Game 5 of the ALDS on Saturday is up in the air at this point.

McKinstry’s walk in the second inning loaded the bases with no outs, but the Tigers could only score one run. McKinstry led off the fifth inning with a home run to left field that tied the game and chased Guardians’ starter Tanner Bibee. McKinstry has started two games in the series and appeared in another as a defensive replacement.

Ramirez’ home run was his first of the playoffs. He crushed a changeup from Tyler Holton to give the Guardians a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning. Ramirez’ only other hit in the series was the double in the first inning of Game 1 that took a funny hop and was originally scored an error on Zack McKinstry.