Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler takes down hometown Cleveland Gurdians in Wild Card Series clincher

CLEVELAND: Dillon Dingler grew up rooting for the Cleveland Guardians. But on Thursday, he sent them home.
Playing in the ballpark where he attended many games as a youngster, the second-year catcher hit a go-ahead solo homer in the sixth inning to lead the Detroit Tigers to a 6-3 victory over Cleveland in the decisive Game 3 of their AL Wild Card Series.
Dingler also threw out José Ramírez trying to steal second at a pivotal juncture, helping the Tigers reach the Division Series for the second consecutive season.
“It’s obviously cool.

I was always a longtime Guardians fan growing up,” said Dingler, raised about 55 miles from Cleveland in Massillon, Ohio. “It was special.

Every time we come here, a lot of family, a lot of friends cheering on, and it’s kind of cool because all of them are Guardians fans.
“Ultimately, it was very special. Kind of closing the door, winning this series.”
Dingler had 16 family members and friends at a Tigers-Guardians game earlier this season.

On Thursday, it was only his parents and wife.
Dingler went 8 for 22 in his last six regular-season games, but he was hitless in nine at-bats in the playoff series before coming to the plate with the score tied 1-all and two outs in the sixth.
He got an elevated changeup on a 1-1 count from left-hander Joey Cantillo and launched it 401 feet into the bleachers in left-center to give the Tigers the lead.
Dingler became the first Detroit batter to homer for his first postseason hit since Nick Castellanos in a 2014 Division Series against Baltimore.
Dingler also joined Parker Meadows  and Marty Castillo  as the only rookies in franchise history to hit go-ahead home runs in the postseason.
“I was scratching and crawling a little bit. I was able to get a