Well, we now know three of the four teams that will be in the Championship series. We’re just waiting for the battle between two AL Central rivals to wrap up.
Cleveland Guardians at Chicago White Sox (8:00 PM EDT)
Cleveland staved off the beginning of their offseason with a huge win yesterday, smacking the White Sox 9-3 in a must-win game. They still have their backs up against the wall though as they’re still down 2-1 in the series against their division rivals. The AL’s #2 seed needs to win tonight to stay alive. The Rays are waiting for the winner
of this series.
Cleveland will be sending a rookie out there for this critical road contest. Righty Parker Messick (12-9, 2.56 ERA) will be getting the ball for his second career playoff start. He got the ball in Game 1 and looked strong for the first few frames before allowing a two-run home run to Japanese star slugger Munetaka Murakami. That was more or less all that the White Sox needed that day as the Guardians’ offense disappeared and couldn’t back up their young starter. The Guardians will be asking even more tonight of their rookie, who had a fantastic rookie campaign and will likely end up as the runner-up for AL Rookie of the Year.
As for the White Sox, they have left-handed reliever Hagen Smith starting a bullpen game for them. Is that strategy going to work one more time?
Here’s how the Guardians will line up for their second straight must-win game:
And with a trip to the American League Championship Series on the line, the White Sox will line up like this:
This is going to be a good one! Who do you got tonight? Do the White Sox punch their ticket? Or are we going to be treated to a Game 5 winner-take-all on Friday?
