Lane Thomas hit a grand slam off Tarik Skubal and the Guardians beat the Tigers 7-3 on Saturday in Game 5 of their AL Division Series, moving the Guardians into another postseason matchup against the Yankees.

The Guardians will meet the Yankees in the ALCS, setting up a series between two teams that have crossed paths six previous times in October. They last met in 2022, with the Yankees taking their ALDS in five games.

Game 1 is Monday in the Bronx.

Thomas had five RBIs for the Guardians, who weren’t expected to contend this season. But they won the tough AL Central under first-year manager Stephen Vogt, and Cleveland is still alive with a chance to end a World Series title drought stretching to 1948.

The Guardians had to take down Skubal, the front-runner for the AL Cy Young Award, to keep it going. The left-hander had not given up a run in 24 consecutive innings — 17 in this postseason — before the Guardians tagged him in the fifth for five runs, tying the most he allowed in 2024.

And the Guardians did with its familiar, scrappy style dubbed “Guards Ball,” getting three singles — one an infield roller — to load the bases before Skubal hit All-Star José Ramírez on the left hand to force in a run.

That brought up Thomas, who hit a three-run homer in the Guardians’ 7-0 win in Game 1.

The center fielder, who struggled in his first month with the Guardians after coming over in a July trade from the Nationals, connected on Skubal’s first pitch, sending it just over the 19-foot-high wall in left-center field.

When the ball touched down, the Guardians’ dugout emptied and the screaming, red-clad Progressive Field crowd erupted in celebration.

As has been the case all season, Vogt leaned on his MLB-best bullpen, which showed some wear and tear.

After Thomas hit his homer, the Tigers threatened in the sixth, scoring a run on a single by Jake Rogers and loading the bases with two outs.

But Hunter Gaddis struck out Kerry Carpenter, who won Game 2 with a three-run homer in the ninth.

The Tigers, though, kept clawing and closed to 5-3 on Colt Keith’s one-out RBI double in the seventh. Eli Morgan came in for Cleveland and struck out both batters he faced.

Thomas hit an RBI single in the eighth to put the Guardians up by three, and that’s when Vogt turned to All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase, the AL’s saves leader, to put the Tigers away.

Before the game, Vogt was confident his team wasn’t done.

“It feels like we’re going to New York,” said Vogt.

Senga’s to start for Mets in Game 1 of NLCS: Mets pitcher Kodai Senga will start Game 1 of the National League Championship Series against the Dodgers on Sunday, continuing his unlikely comeback from injuries that limited him to two starts this season.

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said Saturday that “everybody should be available and ready to go.”