What went wrong for the Cleveland Guardians in the playoffs? | Tigers beat Guards in decisive Game 3

The Cleveland Guardians saw their 2025 postseason run cut short after falling to the Detroit Tigers in a decisive Game 3, and the main issue was execution in the biggest moments. Cleveland’s lineup, which had shown fight in Game 2 with clutch homers from Brayan Rocchio and Bo Naylor, simply didn’t deliver with runners in scoring position in Game 3. They had traffic on the bases but couldn’t cash in, and in October baseball, those missed opportunities will always come back to haunt you. Against a Tigers team riding the momentum of young arms and timely hitting, the Guardians blinked first.

On the pitching side, Cleveland’s usually steady bullpen was pushed to its limit. While the Guardians’ staff had carried them much of the year, Detroit’s hitters forced deep counts, drove pitch counts up early, and eventually broke through. Without that usual late-inning lockdown performance, the Tigers capitalized, swinging momentum fully their way. Combine that with a lack of run support, and the formula for disaster was set.

This loss stings because Cleveland erased a massive division deficit just to reach October, showing the kind of resilience that defines Terry Francona-style baseball. But when the lights were brightest, the Tigers looked like the more opportunistic, composed team. For the Guardians, this winter will be about figuring out how to add more offensive firepower so they don’t have to rely on small ball and timely bursts alone. The effort was there, the fight was there—but in the playoffs, you need that one more big swing or shutdown inning, and the Guards didn’t have it in Game 3.

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