'You dream of at-bats like that': Thomas' slam guides Guardians to ALCS

CLEVELAND -- It was like a scene from your favorite baseball movie, one that you know will have a happy ending even when it’s hard to envision how it’ll get there.

The plot had just taken a turn for the worse. Although the Guardians scored the tying run, it came at an expense, as José Ramírez doubled over in pain after taking a 99.9 mph heater from Tarik Skubal off the elbow. The sold-out Progressive Field crowd held its collective breath. But after a few moments, he started trotting down the first-base line, causing a roar to erupt in the building.

Elation was taking over again. The superstar player was OK. The bases were loaded. The man the Guardians acquired at the Trade Deadline to help bring more life to this offense was coming to the plate. It was the textbook time for the climax moment.

And Thomas delivered.

Thomas turned on the first pitch from Skubal and crushed it over the 19-foot wall in left-center field, marking the sixth postseason grand slam in Cleveland history -- the first since Francisco Lindor’s blast against the Yankees in Game 2 of the 2017 ALDS. And after an RBI infield single in the seventh, Thomas made sure the Guardians’ season would live on with a 7-3 win over the Tigers in Game 5 of the American League Division Series on Saturday.

For the first time since 2016, Cleveland will be back in the American League Championship Series. The team will depart for New York on Saturday night to prepare for a showdown against the Yankees that will begin Monday at Yankee Stadium.

“You dream of at-bats like that as a little kid,” Thomas said, “and to do it at this stage, in this game and to come through for the guys in the clubhouse, it feels awesome.”

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As the ball cleared the wall, the Guardians’ dugout emptied onto the field. Brayan Rocchio leaped into Jhonkensy Noel’s arms like they were reenacting their favorite romantic comedy movie scene. Rocchio jumped back to the ground and ran to Austin Hedges, who nearly knocked Rocchio over with an emphatic, double high five. Rocchio turned to the crowd and flung his arms over his head repeatedly, signaling for the crowd to yell even louder than the ear-piercing decibel they had been.

But this team wanted Thomas to feel the love as he rounded third base. This was more than just the seventh grand slam in a winner-take-all postseason game in MLB history. This was the moment the Guardians knew they were going to be in the ALCS. And it was all thanks to the lone offensive player they added at the Trade Deadline.

“After a game like that, you're fired up,” Thomas said. “You're ready to run through a wall.”

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Thomas earned this moment. It hasn’t always been clear that this would be the player he’d turn into in Cleveland. In his first 29 games with the Guardians, he hit .177 with a .484 OPS. In his 30th game, he hit a homer at Kansas City that may have been the first sign of his bat turning around. But when he came in the next morning, he wasn’t in the starting lineup. He was confused and asked manager Stephen Vogt why.

“I just said, 'Lane, look, here's what we've got. We've got guys that can hit righties,’” Vogt recalled. “And we had a really good conversation and I challenged him. … And then he steps up, and I can't take him out of the lineup. And that's what big-time players do. They step up and they get it done.”

Immediately after that, he enjoyed an eight-game hitting streak. He added more power that’s now carried into the playoffs. He hit a big blast in Game 1 against the Tigers that helped secure a victory. He became the hero in Game 5 when the offense showed no signs of getting to Skubal. It wasn’t until he came to the plate, looking for a fastball, and smacked a grand slam that the offense had life.

It wasn’t that long ago that he was introducing himself to his new teammates in the visiting clubhouse in Detroit on July 30. The Guardians had just beaten the Tigers and when Hedges gathered his team in the clubhouse postgame to present the Guardians' WWE belt to the game’s MVP, he made a welcome speech to Thomas and said, “This is what a winning ballclub is like.”

Just over two months later, Thomas was in the middle of the champagne frenzy in Cleveland’s home clubhouse, receiving that same belt for carrying his team into the ALCS -- a script even Hollywood couldn’t write.

But the Guardians know the script isn’t done yet.

“We just gotta feed off that game,” Thomas said, “and keep going.”