Sooner or later, one of these kinds of games was bound to happen. Things had been going very smoothly for the White Sox (84-78), who had only allowed nine runs in four games this postseason. However, the Guardians (85-77) remained alive in the ALDS, winning by a score of 9-3. The White Sox still lead the best-of-five series, but the lead is less secure at 2-1.
Sean Newcomb, 33, started on the mound for the South Siders, and the top of the first went quite smoothly. Steven Kwan led off the game with
a soft grounder back toward the mound. Newcomb charged it and threw out the speedy outfielder at first, prompting a particularly lively crowd pop for the game’s first out. The crowd was even noisier when José Ramírez hit a liner to left that appeared to be dropping for a hit. However, Randal Grichuk made an impressive diving catch to keep Ramírez off base, and the crowd was hyped up. Newcomb proceeded to retire Chase DeLauter to wrap up a perfect top of the first and cause the third nice crowd pop in as many hitters.
Right-handed pitcher Daniel Espino, 25, opened the game for the Guardians, and the White Sox did not make it easy on him. Sam Antonacci led off the bottom of the first with a walk, and after a sharp liner by Miguel Vargas that landed in left for a single, the White Sox were in business. Munetaka Murakami struck out swinging, but Kyle Teel had no intention of letting the White Sox walk away empty-handed. Teel crushed a liner down the right field line, allowing Antonacci to score the game’s first run. Vargas advanced to third, and the White Sox still only had one out with a pair in scoring position. Espino calmed down and struck out Chase Meidroth swinging for an impactful out No. 2. After that strikeout, left-handed pitcher Foster Griffin took over on the mound for an early pitching change, as the Guardians wanted a lefty to face Tristan Peters. That move paid off, as Peters struck out swinging, and the score remained 1-0.
In the second inning, Jo Adell led off with a slow roller between first and second. Adell used his speed to leg out an infield single. That set the stage for Nathaniel Lowe, who hit a sharp liner to third. That line drive had a 104.6 mph exit velocity and a .640 xBA, but it did not matter. Vargas made the catch, and he quickly fired over to first to double off Adell, who had ventured too far off the bag.
After the White Sox went down quietly in the bottom of the second, Bryan Hudson took over after two excellent innings from opener Sean Newcomb. Hudson’s outing did not go as smoothly as Newcomb’s did. Hudson issued a leadoff walk to the speedy Travis Bazzana, and on top of that, Kyle Teel made an unsuccessful ABS challenge. Next up was Patrick Bailey, who hit a liner toward shortstop that would often find grass for a single. This time, however, Colson Montgomery made a leaping catch, timing his jump nicely for the inning’s first out. However, once again, Teel blew a challenge, as he came down to earth after a great start challenging pitches this postseason. Suddenly, the White Sox were out of ABS challenges in the third. In addition, Brayan Rocchio singled to right, putting runners on first and second with one out. From there, Kwan picked up Cleveland’s first hit of the series with runners in scoring position. Bazzana scored the tying run, and that single prompted a pitching change, as Hagen Smith took over with one out and runners on first and second.
The batter was Ramírez, and Smith missed the zone with four of his first five pitches to load the bases. Smith recovered and forced a soft grounder to first that Murakami threw home to get the force out. Just like that, there were two outs, and although the bases were still loaded, the end of the long inning was near. If Smith could retire Adell, the White Sox would salvage the inning and preserve the tie. However, although White Sox pitchers have been terrific in high-leverage situations this postseason, this time, it was not meant to be. Adell hit a sharp grounder to the opposite field that was away from the White Sox defense. Adell’s grounder was just fair down the right field line, and it cleared the bases for a three-run triple. Just like that, Cleveland had a 4-1 lead, and the White Sox had their first deficit of the postseason.
Chase Meidroth led off with a double down the left field line, just past the outstretched glove of Ramírez, who nearly got there. That set the table for Tristan Peters, who had an interesting at-bat. At first, it seemed he was hit by a pitch, but upon review, the call was correctly overturned to a foul ball after a Cleveland challenge. At that point, the White Sox made a questionable decision to challenge, claiming it was catcher’s interference (it most certainly was not). Despite the unsuccessful challenge, Peters delivered with a double of his own to cut the deficit to two. With the score then 4-2, the White Sox still had a runner on second with no outs. However, they were unable to cut further into the deficit that inning.
The Guardians went back to work in the top of the fifth against Noah Schultz. With one out, Ramírez sliced a double down the left field line. Ramírez proceeded to use his wheels to swipe third, so the Guardians had a runner on third with one out. DeLauter stepped up to the plate, and he hit a grounder that appeared to be favorable to the White Sox. Meidroth gathered it quickly and threw home, trying to retire Ramírez, who was dashing for the plate. However, Ramírez made an excellent jump that allowed him to beat the throw, and Cleveland was back ahead by three.
The White Sox got off to a good start in the bottom of the fifth against reliever Joey Cantillo. With the top of the order due up, Antonacci singled, and Vargas drew a four-pitch walk to put two on with no outs. Murakami, representing the game’s potential tying run, hit a soft grounder to second. Bazzana’s only play was to first, and Murakami was retired, but the White Sox had two in scoring position with only one out. That brought up Teel, who was looking to add to his RBI total. For a split second, it appeared he would do just that, as he hit a sharp liner. However, Teel was unlucky, as Bazzana was in the right place at the right time. Bazzana made the catch, and Vargas wandered too far from second base, so he was doubled off to end the scoring threat. What a missed opportunity.
With the score still 5-2, the Guardians had a runner on second with two outs against Schultz, and Kwan was at the plate. Kwan hit a grounder that Murakami fielded, and a footrace between Schultz and Kwan was underway. Schultz won that race by a small fraction of a second, which appeared to save a run, as Bailey was flying down the third base line on his way home.
After Cantillo retired the first two batters in the bottom of the sixth, it appeared to be a quiet inning for the South Siders. However, Cantillo issued a walk to Braden Montgomery, and that free pass resulted in a pitching change. Right-handed reliever Hunter Gaddis took over to face Grichuk, but that move did not pay off, as Grichuk hit a sharp liner for a single. That base hit kept the inning alive for Colson Montgomery, who was hit by a pitch in the foot to load the bases. Next up to the plate was Antonacci, who was also remarkably hit in the foot for his second HBP of the night. This one forced in a run to trim the deficit to two.
Suddenly, after the White Sox had nobody on base with two outs, Vargas stepped up to the plate in a high-leverage spot against Gaddis. Vargas hit a liner that appeared to be trouble, but Ramírez was there to make a play. At first, Ramírez appeared to make a sliding catch to end the inning, so Vargas briefly relaxed until he saw the ball squirt loose. Ramírez made the throw to first in time to retire Vargas and end the inning. It is unclear whether Vargas would have legged out an infield single if not for the brief slowdown, but regardless, the inning was over, and the score was 5-3, Cleveland.
Reliever Tyler Davis took over for the White Sox in the top of the seventh and delivered a scoreless inning. At the seventh inning stretch, the White Sox trailed by two, still needing some offense. The South Siders were unable to get anything going against Indiana Hoosier Tim Herrin, who struck out the side in order in the bottom of the seventh.
Reliever David Sandlin took over for the White Sox in the eighth, and in that inning, the Guardians managed to take firm control. After a leadoff walk by Bazzana and a single by Bailey, Rocchio laid down a sacrifice bunt to put two in scoring position with one out. Sandlin got Kwan to fly out harmlessly to shallow left, but Ramírez hit a fly ball to medium-deep left. Grichuk started quite far from the left field line, which made a catch very difficult. Grichuk made a good attempt, but ultimately, the fly ball by Ramírez was just too far for Grichuk to track down. That ball only had an 82.8 mph exit velocity and a 37-degree launch angle for a .010 xBA, but it was placed in a very tough spot for Grichuk, and Ramírez ended up at third with a two-run triple.
The Guardians picked up two in garbage time against Davis Martin in the ninth to pull away. Meanwhile, Cleveland reliever Cade Smith locked down the game by retiring all six batters he faced to seal the deal.
The White Sox will be back in action on Thursday. Once again, they will be at home, and they will have another chance to finish off the Guardians. Once again, TBS/HBO Max and TruTV will televise that matchup, and WMVP 1000 AM will have the radio coverage. We will see you then.
MVP
Sam Antonacci (DH): 1-for-2, BB, 2 HBP, K, 0.22 WPA
Runners-Up
Sean Newcomb (LHSP): 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K
Noah Schultz (LHRP): 3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 2 BB, 1 K, -0.01 WPA
Tristan Peters (CF): 1-for-4, 2B, RBI, 0.02 WPA
Tyler Davis (RHRP): 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K
Cold Cat
Bryan Hudson (LHRP): 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 0 K, -0.16 WPA
Runners-Up
Hagen Smith (LHRP): 2/3 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 2 BB, 1 K, -0.23 WPA
Munetaka Murakami (1B): 0-for-4, 3 K, -0.14 WPA
Braden Montgomery (RF): 0-for-3, BB, 2 K, -0.07 WPA
Colson Montgomery (SS): 0-for-3, 3 K, -0.01 WPA
David Sandlin (RHRP): 1 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 2 BB, 1 K, -0.09 WPA
Davis Martin (RHRP): 1 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 2 BB, 1 K, -0.01 WPA
