Cleveland Guardians' José Ramírez (11) is tagged out at second base by Detroit Tigers shortstop Javier Báez (28) during the eighth inning of Game 3 of the American League Wild Card playoff series in Cleveland on Thursday. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

CLEVELAND (AP) — Dillon Dingler hit a tiebreaking homer in the sixth inning, Wenceel Pérez drove in a pair of runs in a four-run seventh and the Detroit Tigers defeated the Cleveland Guardians 6-3 on Thursday in the deciding Game 3 of their AL Wild Card Series.

It is the second straight season the Tigers have won a Wild Card Series on the road. Detroit heads to Seattle for the first two games of a best-of-five Division Series, with Game 1 on Saturday.

It was also a little bit of sweet revenge for the Tigers after their season ended in Cleveland last year with a loss in Game 5 of the ALDS.

“I don’t think it needs to be any sweeter than what it feels like right now because you have to earn these wins,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “You have to earn the opportunity to play in October. You’ve got to earn a full-series win over a good team, a hot team, a team that we know well.”

The AL West champion Mariners, the second seed, took four of six regular-season meetings with the Tigers, who are the third AL wild card.

José Ramírez drove in Cleveland’s first run with a single. The AL Central champion Guardians were 15 1/2 games back in early July before completing the biggest comeback in division or league play in baseball history.

However, they ran out of steam in the playoffs as Detroit turned the page after posting the second-worst record in the majors in September (7-17).

The game was tied 1-all with two outs in the sixth when Dingler got an elevated changeup from Joey Cantillo on a 1-1 count and drove it 401 feet into the bleachers in left-center to put the Tigers on top.

Detroit then broke it open in the seventh by sending 10 batters to the plate and scoring four times to make it 6-1.

With one out and the bases loaded, Pérez lined a base hit to right off Erik Sabrowski to drive in Javier Báez and Parker Meadows. Hunter Gaddis came in and gave up RBI singles to Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene, which brought in Kerry Carpenter and Pérez.

Kyle Finnegan got the win, retiring all four batters he faced in relief. Cantillo took the loss.

Chicago Cubs 3,

San Diego 1

CHICAGO (AP) — Pete Crow-Armstrong hit an RBI single off a shaky Yu Darvish, and the Chicago Cubs shut down Fernando Tatis Jr. and the San Diego Padres for a clinching 3-1 victory in Game 3 of their NL Wild Card Series on Thursday.

Backed by a raucous crowd of 40,895 at Wrigley Field, Chicago used its stellar defense to advance in the postseason for the first time since 2017.

Michael Busch hit a solo homer, and Jameson Taillon pitched four shutout innings before manager Craig Counsell used five relievers to close it out.

After Brad Keller faltered in the ninth — allowing Jackson Merrill’s leadoff homer and hitting two batters — Andrew Kittredge earned the save by retiring Jake Cronenworth on a bouncer to third and Freddy Fermin on a flyball to center.

Next up for Chicago is a matchup with NL Central champion Milwaukee for a compelling NL Division Series, beginning with Game 1 on Saturday.

Counsell managed the Brewers for nine years before he was hired by the Cubs in November 2023, and he has been lustily booed in Milwaukee ever since he departed.

It was a disappointing finish for San Diego after it made the postseason for the fourth time in the last six years. The Padres forced a decisive Game 3 with a 3-0 victory on Wednesday, but their biggest stars flopped in the series finale.