Baseball World Amazed by Lane Thomas’s Grand Slam for Guardians Off Tarik Skubal

The randomness of the MLB playoffs has a way of making heroes out of the most ordinary players.

Take, for instance, center fielder Lane Thomas. For 130 games between the Washington Nationals and Cleveland Guardians this season, he was ordinary—a .237/.309/.400 slashline with 15 home runs and 63 RBIs.

On Saturday, however, he became transcendent. His grand slam with one out in the bottom of the fifth inning staked the Guardians to a 5–1 lead in Game 5 of the ALDS against the Detroit Tigers.

The home run shocked a Cleveland crowd beleaguered from a low-offense series, and floored a baseball world who had reasonably come to believe Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal was invincible.

The clutch hit—the first grand slam Skubal had ever allowed—brought Progressive Field to a roar.

MLB provided a wide shot of Cleveland fans in absolute jubilation.

Ever prone to waxing poetic, Guardians fans—scarred by 76 years of experience—expressed shock that something like this could happen to them.

Cleveland’s trade-deadline approach was vindicated.

Nationals writers provided insight into a suddenly beloved player.