Scoring change rewrites key moment in Tigers’ Game 1 loss to the Guardians

CLEVELAND - The critical error in the Detroit Tigers' Game 1 loss in the American League Division Series on Saturday is no longer an error.

Jose Ramirez's bad-hop bouncer to third baseman Zach McKinstry was given a rapid review on Sunday and changed to an RBI double.

The Cleveland Guardians capitalized on the play to score five runs in the first inning and beat the Tigers 7-0 in the opener of the best-of-five series.

The Tigers and Guardians play Game 2 on Monday at 4:08 p.m. at Progressive Field.

With two runners on and nobody out, Ramirez hit a grounder that appeared to catch McKinstry on an in-between hop. The ball skipped past him, allowing one run to score and Ramirez to advance to second base.

The original ruling was that Ramirez reached on a fielder's choice and McKinstry was charged with an error for not forcing the runner at third base. (In official scoring decisions, a double play is never assumed).

The scoring change gave Ramirez a double and an RBI while also adding another earned run to the ledger of Tigers pitcher Tyler Holton, who was charged with four runs without retiring a batter.

McKinstry took responsibility for the error after the game but also suggested he wasn't prepared for the hop because of the grounds crew's irregular infield watering.

"They watered the field when we came in to take ground balls, but they didn't water it before the game," McKinstry explained afterward. "It took a weird hop off the dirt on the first kick. You hope to make that play, but I didn't, and we ended up losing the game because of it."

The error - or rather, Ramirez's double - opened the floodgates. After Josh Naylor's RBI single, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch went to right-hander Reese Olson as planned.

Olson's first pitch to Lane Thomas was deposited in the left-field seats, giving the Guardians a 5-0 lead that the Tigers never challenged.

It's unclear whether Ramirez personally requested the scoring review, but players often request such reviews, and changes are regularly made. A committee evaluates each request and grants a handful of appeals each week. The MLB Scoring Changes X account , which tracks these decisions, was the first to report the updated ruling from Game 1.