The Chicago White Sox are carrying a 2-0 ALDS lead back home and sit one win from the American League Championship Series for the first time since 2005 after a 4-3 comeback win over the Cleveland Guardians in Game 2 on Monday.
Chicago had to dig out of a 2-1 hole, but the sixth inning flipped everything. After the Guardians pulled starter Gavin Williams, the White Sox pushed across three runs and seized control of the game. Williams had already piled up 11 strikeouts before leaving.
The White Sox got on the board earlier through rookie slugger Munetaka Murakami, whose single in the fourth scored Miguel Vargas for Chicago’s first run. Then Braden Montgomery delivered the swing that mattered most, lining an RBI double off Cleveland left-hander Erik Sabrowski to bring home Vargas and Randal Grichuk and put Chicago in front for good.
"Man, I knew (Montgomery) was going to do something big," White Sox catcher Kyle Teel said postgame, according to MLB. "That guy just hits.
He's always coming up big for us. That's the guy you want in that spot."
Cleveland still had a chance late. Guardians designated hitter Jo Adell came close to tying it in the eighth, missing a game-tying homer off Grant Taylor.
Taylor had entered after Sean Burke handled 5 1/3 scoreless frames for Chicago. Taylor finished it with a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his second save of the series, while Burke got the win.
The White Sox have yet to lose this postseason, and they’ll go to Chicago with a chance to close out the series on Wednesday.
"Oh my gosh, it's going to be electric," Teel said about playing Game 3 at Rate Field in Chicago. "You could hear the fans here in Cleveland.
I can't imagine what it's going to be like in Chicago. We have some great fans, some electric fans, and it's going to be loud."
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Anthony Rizzo Just Reignited A Cubs-Sox Fight White Sox Fans Hate
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The response from White Sox fans made the temperature clear almost immediately. Plenty of them rejected the pitch for civic unity and leaned into the familiar hostility toward the Cubs, turning Rizzos comments into one more reminder that Chicagos baseball divide is not going away anytime soon. For the White Sox, the timing only adds another layer, because any appeal for shared rooting interest tends to collide with a fan base that has spent years defining itself in opposition to the North Side. [Read more 🡒]