Game 3 is a must-win for the Cleveland Guardians

In a mostly expected series of events, the Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers are tied with one win each through the first two games of their playoff series. It was obvious that taking Game 1 was absolutely necessary, considering they were facing Detroit's ace Tarik Skubal in Game 2, with the very likely outcome being a Guardians loss. Now that both of those events have come to fruition, the series pivots to Comerica Park in Detroit for a Game 3 that has become a "must-win" for the Guardians.

There is little doubt that Guardians hitters will fare better against anyone not named Skubal that Detroit sends to the mound. Cleveland found plenty of success in Game 1, and the expectation moving forward is for that to continue as long as Skubal is in the dugout and not actively pitching. The Guardians have shown to be a significantly better team from an offensive standpoint than what was seen in Game 2, and not facing the likely American League Cy Young Award winner should certainly make a huge difference for Cleveland.

Of course, the offense is just one part of the equation. Pitching has a job to do too, and so far, the results have been encouraging. Aside from the rarest of occasions that took place late in Game 2, the Guardians' pitching staff has pretty much kept Detroit's bats quiet. Sure, there have been a few times where they have threatened, but they were only able to see a run come across against Cleveland in an outcome that has literally never happened before. That result being the first three-run homer allowed by Emmanuel Clase in his Major League career. As devastating as that was, hope is not lost just yet.

This is still a series yet to be decided, but whoever wins Game 3 will have the upper hand for the final game(s). Not only is there a very different feeling being one game away from advancing when compared to being one game away from elimination, but being able to avoid facing Skubal again in a winner-take-all Game 5 must be near, if not at the top of their priorities list. This not only makes winning Game 3 an absolute must but also Game 4 as they hopefully can get by their division rival and advance to the ALCS.