CLEVELAND >> The Tigers weren’t going to die Monday. This was not an elimination game, technically. But coming back to Detroit down 0-2 in a best-of-five series would’ve been akin to being on life support.

Instead, thanks to a mighty swing by Kerry Carpenter and another lay-it-on-the-line pitching performance by their ace, the Tigers bring the American League Division Series back to Detroit even with a chance to clinch at Comerica Park.

“We now have two games at our place,” manager AJ Hinch said after the Tigers evened the series with a 3-0 win over the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field Monday. “We know it’s going to be electric. We know Detroit has waited a really long time for a playoff game. We’re going to have a couple of them and a chance to take control of this series.”

The game was gut-wrenchingly scoreless for eight innings. Tarik Skubal, who in a month will be crowned with the American League Cy Young Award, was dominant for seven of them. The Tigers couldn’t come up with the big hit off old friend Matthew Boyd for 4.2 innings, nor could they dent the seemingly impenetrable Cleveland bullpen.

And the task didn’t get any less daunting when All-Star closer Emmanual Clase was summoned in the eighth inning. During the season, Clase allowed just five earned runs and two home runs in 74.1 innings. But the Tigers nearly got him in the eighth.

Matt Vierling doubled off right-hander Hunter Gaddis and with two outs, Clase came in to face rookie Wenceel Perez.

Perez hit a sinking liner to left. Left-fielder Steven Kwan got a good jump on the ball and made a diving catch just before the ball hit the ground. Replays upheld the umpire’s call of a catch.

“I saw him hit it to the wrong guy,” Hinch joked. “I mean, that guy. I was looking for some blade of grass, maybe one that was grown a little higher than the other to show on the board. They only showed us the one angle. There are some angles where you weren’t sure if the thumb of the glove got underneath the ball.

“Every time they say (the call) stands, whatever was called on the field is going to probably be what it was.”

Statcast and the website Inside Edge both gave Kwan a one in 10 chance of making that catch. At that point, the Tigers had scored in just three of 35 innings in the postseason.

“I wouldn’t say there’s more pressure,” Carpenter said. “It’s not just another game, but, I mean, I don’t think any added pressure is going to help. So you just have to go out and execute. Skubal was doing that. And then we were executing in our at-bats and nothing was falling. Wenceel had an amazing at-bat and Kwan made a great play.

“So I didn’t really feel extra pressure. It was just go in there and lock in.”

Clase hadn’t allowed three hits in an inning all season. But with two outs in the ninth, Jake Rogers and Trey Sweeney singled to keep the inning going and got it to Carpenter.

“I wanted a chance, and those guys put together great swings,” Carpenter said. “There’s probably not too many innings this year that Clase gave up two hits in one inning let alone three. We all trust Rog up there. And then Sweeney has been in the big leagues for a couple months and he continues to impress me every single day.

“The fact that he was able to give me a chance, I was thankful and honestly not surprised because he hits big when it counts.”

Carpenter didn’t start the game. Hinch started rookie Justyn-Henry Malloy in the designated-hitter spot and batted him leadoff against the lefty Boyd. Malloy responded with two hits. But when the Guardians went to Gaddis in the eighth, Carpenter got the call.

“When we face right-hand pitching, he’s usually batting second, third or fourth,” Hinch said. “When he’s not, he’s got his helmet on and his bat in his hand pretty much for every inning until we decide to unleash him. Everybody knows it. It’s no secret that he’s a big threat and he’s prepared, and he’s as balanced a human as you’re going to get which allows him to stay grounded in whatever we ask him to do.”

Carpenter saw three-straight high-velocity cutters from Clase, 99.5, 99.9 and 100.6 mph. Then, mysteriously, Clase threw him three straight sliders.

“I wasn’t sitting on (the slider),” Carpenter said. “I was just on time for his hardest pitch, that cutter, and I was like zoning in for it to start in a certain zone. My instincts took over and he missed a spot, so I took advantage of it.”

Did he ever. The 2-2 slider, which Clase left in the middle of the plate, flew off Carpenter’s bat with an exit velocity of 110.8 mph and flew 423 feet into the seats in right field.

Carpenter flipped his bat. His helmet flew off rounding first and his feet barely touched the ground.