CLEVELAND (Interstat) — Dillon Dingler homered 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 afternoon to win Game 3 of their American League Wild Card Series at Progressive Field.

With the victory, the Tigers clinched the best-of-three series two games to one and advanced to the American League Division Series. It is the second straight season the Tigers have won a Wild Card Series on the road. Detroit heads to Seattle for the Division Series with Game 1 on Saturday. The AL West champion Mariners, the second seed, took four of the six regular-season meetings from the Tigers, who were the third wild card.

A taut pitchers’ duel defined the early innings under the lights in front of a sellout crowd of 29,891. Detroit opened the scoring in the third inning against Guardians starter Joey Cantillo. Parker Meadows singled and advanced to third on a single by Gleyber Torres. Kerry Carpenter then hit a ground ball that second baseman Brayan Rocchio could not handle cleanly, allowing Meadows to score.

Cleveland answered in the fourth against Tigers starter Jack Flaherty. George Valera doubled and scored on a single by José Ramírez, cutting the deficit to one run.

The game remained 2-1 until the sixth inning when Dingler provided a crucial insurance run, launching a solo home run to center field off reliever Slade Cecconi.

Detroit broke the game open in the seventh, sending nine batters to the plate and scoring four runs. The rally started with a Javier Báez double and a bunt single by Parker Meadows. After a groundout advanced the runners, the Guardians intentionally walked Carpenter to load the bases. Pérez then delivered the decisive blow, lining a two-run single to right field. Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene followed with RBI singles to push the Tigers’ lead to 6-1.

Cleveland mounted a threat in the eighth inning, scoring two runs on a bizarre play. With runners on second and third, Ramírez hit a ground ball to pitcher Will Vest. Vest’s throw to first was dropped by Torkelson, allowing two runs to score. The Tigers challenged the call, believing Ramírez was out at first, but the replay review confirmed the missed catch error, though Ramírez was later tagged out between bases. The runs were unearned.

Vest retired the side in order in the ninth to seal the victory, securing the series for Detroit.

The win went to Tigers reliever Kyle Finnegan, who pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings. Cantillo took the loss for Cleveland, allowing one run on two hits over 2 2/3 innings. Flaherty was dominant for Detroit, pitching 4 2/3 innings and allowing just one run on three hits while striking out four. The Tigers’ bullpen, led by Vest and Finnegan, combined for 4 1/3 innings of relief, allowing two unearned runs.

The game-time temperature was 58 degrees, and the contest took 2 hours and 50 minutes to complete. The result defied pregame projections from Interstat, which had given Cleveland a 56.2 percent probability to win and projected a final score of 6-3 in favor of the Guardians.

Both teams finished the regular season with identical 89-76 records, setting up a fiercely contested playoff matchup that Detroit ultimately claimed to continue its postseason run.