CLEVELAND — It feels like the Tigers have been here before, but they haven’t.

Yes, their backs were to the wall for the last two months of the season, as they went on a no-margin-for-error, 31-13 rampage to get into the playoffs. Yes, the situation would have been dire had Kerry Carpenter not swatted a three-run homer in Game 2 to send this American League Division Series to Detroit all even.

But this is different.

No more “flush it and move on.” No more “reset and win tomorrow.” For the first time this season, when the Tigers and Guardians converge at 1:08 p.m. Saturday at Progressive Field, it’s literally win or go home.

“I think our team wouldn't want to have it any other way,” said presumptive Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal, who will get the ball for the Tigers. “This is why you play the game, for moments like this, and for stages like this, in this setting.

“I think our guys will respond well, and it'll be a ton of fun.”

If you want to properly understand the dynamics, the nuances and the magnitude of these elimination playoff games, spend a few minutes with Tigers skipper AJ Hinch.

He’s managed two Game 7s in the World Series, winning in 2017 and losing in '18.

“It’s a great opportunity to be great,” he said. “Everybody remembers these games. It’s not a burden. There is no stress, no tension on our side. We’re going to enjoy every moment of this opportunity because it’s where we are; it’s where we want to be.”

The players, as they went directly from their plane to Progressive Field for a workout Friday afternoon, certainly didn’t seem overly burdened by the tough 5-4 loss in Game 4.

“I feel like, at this stage, there’s no room for getting down,” Riley Greene said. “It’s win or go home. There’s no room to be emotional or getting your feelings hurt. You get punched in the face. You have to punch right back.”

The fight reference was apt. Saturday will be the fifth meeting between these two teams this week and the 18th time they’ve battled this season.

Both teams have shown all their cards. Both teams have utilized all their players and all their strategies. At this point, with everything on the line, it becomes a street fight, best on best, and whoever is standing at the end goes to the ALCS.

“These games are incredible,” Hinch said. “Every time a runner gets on base, there is a heightened awareness. Every time there is a score change, there is an emotional reaction in and around the building. Everybody is on edge. Everybody knows what’s at stake. There are no secrets.

“It’s the best brand of baseball that you can get because everybody is all in, every moment, every pitch, every at-bat, and any one person can be the difference in the game.”

Boyd vs. Skubal, remix

It’s not like the game needs extra storylines, but the Guardians will start former Tigers lefty Matthew Boyd opposite Skubal in a remix of Game 2, when Skubal pitched seven scoreless innings and Boyd 4 2/3 scoreless innings.

“We had discussions about everything,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “Best ways to win Game 5. We talked through a lot of different scenarios, but the one that just continued to come up was that Matthew threw the ball well; he's been great for us.

“The way Matthew has taken the ball every time and competed, we feel really good about him taking the ball in a Game 5 scenario.”

Skubal and Boyd are close friends. Boyd has mentored Skubal. Skubal was a rock Boyd could lean on through his rehabilitation process after Tommy John surgery. The two walked out of Progressive Field together last Monday after the Tigers got the 3-0 win in Game 2.

But the friendship goes on hiatus for a few hours Saturday.

“That guy means a lot to me,” Skubal said. “I've got a ton of respect for him. His family is great. Who he is in the clubhouse is great. I think that's what's cool about this game. It's competitive. You do everything you can to win, but at the end of the day, we're humans.

“It's cool to have that human interaction and be able to just enjoy it.”

During his press conference Friday, Boyd was asked about Skubal’s fiery emotions on the mound.

“What Tarik does is awesome,” he said. “That's perfect for him, right? He's got that emotion. He's got that fire. He feeds off that stuff, and like that's him. You wouldn't want him to be somebody else, right? And I think that goes for everybody.”

Ironically, Boyd was the one who got emotional at the podium Friday. He was asked about his journey, about how the Guardians signed him even though he wouldn’t be ready to pitch until August or September, and he here is, starting Game 5 with the season on the line.

“Just gratitude,” he said, his voice cracking. “All those days you're in the gym and this is what you dream of. This is what you want, and you go do it.”

He had to stop and compose himself.

“I don't know where that came from,” he said of the tears. “But you're excited about it, and that's what you want. Like this is what you dream about. You dream about everything leading up to it.”

Built for this

Another point of irony: Left-handed slugger Kerry Carpenter isn’t expected to be available for the Tigers after injuring his left hamstring in the sixth inning of Game 4. But with Boyd starting, Carpenter likely wouldn’t have been in the starting lineup anyway, though they will miss his bat late in the game against the Guardians’ strong right-handed relievers.

“We know what we’re going to get, and they know what they’re going to get,” Greene said. “We’ve seen each other so many times. We know what’s going to happen. It’s who gets the big hit, who makes the big pitches. Just play the game and play your butt off.

“It’s you versus the pitcher, and nothing else matters. Your goal, your job, is to beat that guy on the mound. You go out there with that mentality, and you grind, and you do whatever you can to win.”

If the Tigers enter the Game 5 fray with more confidence than you’d expect from such a young team in its maiden playoff voyage, it’s because they know No. 29 is on the mound. They are 23-10 on Skubal start days.

“He’s built for this moment,” Spencer Torkelson said.

The broadest shoulders carry the heaviest weight.

“Playoff baseball is just so much fun,” Skubal said. “I think it brings out the best in everybody, the focus, the drive. ... You work hard, and you prepare for these moments, and then you just go out there and play.

“I'm going to go out there and compete and give it everything I've got.”

The Game 5 start time was moved from 8:08 p.m. to 1:08 p.m. because storms were in the forecast for Saturday evening in the Cleveland area.

“I'm just glad we're going to get it in before the rain,” Vogt said. “No one wants to play through rain stoppages, and then you have to keep a starter going through a rain delay. It was the right call to move the game up, and it'll be a beautiful Saturday in Cleveland, hopefully.”

Six months, 169 games, all the valleys and the rallies, all the heartbreak and heroics, and the season comes down to one game. Win or go home.

“It’s a competition, and I love the fact that both teams are fighting,” Hinch said. “I love the fact that there's familiarity. I love the challenge and the fact that it means so much to so many of us that have put everything into this. So, we're going to embrace it.

“There's no stress or anxiousness about being in this position because we've earned it. And now we'll see where it takes us. And we have every chance to win, not just because of the guy that we're starting on the mound but because of the collective group in there.”

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