3 Detroit Tigers to blame for crushing ALDS Game 1 loss: Tyler Holton falls flat

No team was hotter entering the ALDS than the Detroit Tigers. They were on fire just to make it to the postseason, and carried their momentum to Houston where they'd subsequently sweep the Houston Astros in the Wild Card Series to advance to the ALDS. A tough Cleveland Guardians team awaited them, but did anyone really expect the Tigers to falter after what we just saw?

Well, in Saturday's series opener, we saw that the bye doesn't impact every team in a negative way. The Guardians delivered the first punch by pitching a scoreless inning, and followed that up with a knockout punch before the Tigers could even record an out.

The Guardians had scored five runs before a single one of their hitters was retired, and cruised to a Game 1 victory from there. They still have two more wins to go to advance, but they sent a clear message in this Game 1 victory.

The Guardians are a great team, obviously, but the Tigers didn't play well either. These players in particular deserve to be blamed for this awful showing.

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3) Spencer Torkelson was a rally-killer in Detroit's Game 1 loss

The Tigers faced a tough challenge in Game 1, having to deal with Tanner Bibee, Cleveland's ace, and their loaded bullpen. It turns out that they were not up for the challenge. All the Tigers could muster was four hits and two walks over the course of the entire game. That doesn't mean that they didn't have a chance to make things interesting, though.

Riley Greene led off the fourth inning with a single, and Colt Keith followed that up by drawing a walk. The Tigers might've been trailing 5-0 at the time, but they had the makings of a rally started, with former No. 1 overall pick Spencer Torkelson due up. That's where this promising rally came to die.

Torkelson swung at a first-pitch sinker and rolled into a crushing double play. Instead of keeping the rally going or even just popping out, the Tigers suddenly had just one runner on base and two outs. Bibee was one pitch away from getting out of the inning, and sure enough, he got Zach McKinstry to ground out.

Torkelson had a chance to kickstart a potential rally in the seventh inning as well, but he struck out for the second time of the day. Overall, he went 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts on the day. The only ball he was able to put into play was the aforementioned double play. If the Tigers want to advance to the ALCS, chances are, they're going to need more from Torkelson.

2) A.J. Hinch has some questions to answer with his decision to start Tyler Holton

When outlining Detroit's pitching plans for the Wild Card Series, A.J. Hinch said that they were planning on using Tarik Skubal in Game 1 and then "pitching chaos" the rest of the way. In Game 2, that meant a full-on bullpen game.

This plan worked to a tee. The Tigers got six scoreless innings from Skubal in Game 1, and their bullpen held the Astros to just two runs in Game 2. The Tigers swept Houston and moved onto the ALDS.

The problem with having to play in the Wild Card Series meant that Skubal would not be ready to go until Game 2 of the series. Since Skubal is their only reliable starter, Hinch's plans for Game 1 of the ALDS were very up in the air.

Instead of using a traditional starter, Hinch opted to begin the game with Tyler Holton. The decision to start Holton wouldn't be a horrible one if they went with a full-on bullpen game like in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series. That's not what happened on Saturday, though. Reese Olson, a pitcher who had only started at the big league level this season (and had a solid 3.53 ERA in 23 starts this season), was used in an entirely new role.

Not only did Olson enter the game out of the bullpen, but he was brought into the game with two men on and with the team already in a 2-0 hole. Instead of starting a clean inning like he had done in all of his appearances this season, Olson was brought into a crisis. Sure enough, the first pitch he threw was deposited deep into the left field seats. A 2-0 deficit quickly ballooned to 5-0.

Predicting that Holton wouldn't have it isn't something Hinch could've done, but he could've simply started Olson and seen what would've happened. The right-hander allowed a total of four runs in 12 innings against Detroit in two starts during the regular season, delivering quality starts in both outings.

Once Olson got settled in, he pitched well, allowing just that one run in five innings pitched. Unfortunately, his strong outing doesn't really matter since he was brought into that brutal spot. Olson has to execute better, but A.J. Hinch did not put his team in position to succeed in this game.

1) Tyler Holton simply did not have it in the Tigers' Game 1 loss

Blame for this game ultimately falls mostly on Tyler Holton's shoulders. He was dubbed as the opener for this game expected to deliver a zero in the first inning. That's what he did in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series, and that's what he mostly did as a starter as evidenced by his 1.59 ERA in nine appearances in that role.

The top of Cleveland's order is tough with Steven Kwan, David Fry, Jose Ramirez, and Josh Naylor due up, but Holton was brought in with the lone goal of getting those guys out. Not only did he fail to deliver a zero, he couldn't even record an out.

Yes, Zach McKinstry's error did hurt, but Holton still allowed two hits and walked one. He exited the game in a 2-0 hole, and the runners he left on base scored on that one Lane Thomas swing.

The Tigers had all kinds of momentum, and a scoreless inning from Holton would've gone a long way when it came to maintaining that. Unfortunately, he got the party started at Progressive Field, and not in a good way for Tigers fans.