CHICAGO – There are some atmospheres a young team just has to experience for itself.
Chicago White Sox
manager Will Venable acknowledged his team was affected by the magnitude of Game 3 of the ALDS against the Cleveland Guardians. The team's first playoff game at home since 2021. A chance to clinch a postseason series at home for the first time since 1906. A fanbase ecstatic to be in the postseason after three 100-loss seasons in a row.“This group has always responded well to different atmospheres, whether that's on the road or here. … It was different yesterday,” Venable said Thursday, Oct. 8, ahead of Game 4.
“I'm not sure that there was anything that myself or anybody else could have said to prepare them for that,” Venable added. They had to experience
it for themselves.”
The White Sox were routed by the Guardians 9-3 on Wednesday, managing six hits while striking out an MLB postseason-record 19 times.
“You saw us chase a lot more,” Venable said. “I think it was one of our highest chase rates of the year, so I think, yeah, we were a little sped up.”
Added center fielder Tristan Peters, “You play in front of a crowd like that, you get amped up and maybe swing at pitches you wouldn't normally swing at.”
Now that the White Sox have been through it, though, Venable and Peters said they’ll respond better in Game 4.
This has been a team that’s been able to bounce back quickly throughout the season, especially against division foes. They’ve lost back-to-back games against a fellow AL Central team only five times this season, and just once since the All-Star break. (Though that was against the Guardians, when Chicago dropped the last two of a three-game series in Cleveland.)
“That's part of baseball. You’re not always going to play your best game,” Peters said. “I think we've shown all year that we bounce back from those kinds of games really quick. That's what we plan to do today.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chicago White Sox acknowledge they were shook in Game 3 by raucous atmosphere
