The White Sox took a punch on Thursday, but the series is still theirs to control. Chicago dropped Game 3 of the ALDS to the Cleveland Guardians, 9-3, and now heads back to Rate Field with a chance to close things out in Game 4.
Cleveland did its damage with a pair of two-out triples. Jo Adell’s three-run shot to the gap gave the Guardians a 4-1 lead in the third inning, and José Ramírez followed later with a three-bagger that brought in Travis Bazzana and Patrick Bailey to stretch the margin to 7-3 in the eighth.
The White Sox, though, weren’t changing their outlook after the loss.
"Today has nothing to do with tomorrow. Nothing," White Sox catcher Kyle Teel said. "We come ready to go like we always do tomorrow."
Chicago’s postseason run has already been a jolt after last year’s 60-102 finish, and the club had opened this year’s playoff push with four straight wins. But Wednesday night at Rate Field - in front of 40,590 for the franchise’s first home playoff game since 2021 - the offense went cold at the wrong time. The White Sox struck out 19 times and finished 2 for 11 with runners in position, while the bullpen couldn’t keep the game from slipping away after carrying so much of the load early in the postseason.
"I think there was some stuff we could have played better, but they played good, too," left-hander Hagen Smith said. "It's a good team, and we'll come back tomorrow and fight."
White Sox manager Will Venable said the group isn’t letting one loss change the mood.
"One hundred percent confidence. We've done it all year.
We've even been in tough spots where we haven't played our best games. We've played good games.
Whatever the result, these guys come back the next day," said White Sox manager Will Venable. "It's really kind of been the story of our group, and being able to bounce back no matter what happens."
Game 4 was moved to prime time after the New York Yankees lost to the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday night, 4-3. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. CDT.
If the White Sox don’t finish the job Thursday, Game 5 would be in Cleveland on Saturday at 7 p.m. CDT.
The bigger picture still hangs over this series, too. The White Sox have won World Series titles in 1917 and 2005, but since beating the Cubs in the 1906 World Series, they have only clinched playoff series on the road. The source of that strange streak stretches all the way back to a different era in Chicago, when old Comiskey Park was still four years from being built and the team was playing at the last of three stadiums called South Side Park.
Even after the loss, the crowd outside and inside Rate Field sounded like a fan base still expecting more. "Anxious.
Anxious, but hopeful," said a White Sox fan named Ernie. "I was in these same seats in '05, so I'm hoping for a repeat, but this time, they'll clinch at home."
Another fan, Anthony Skokal, pointed to the first White Sox pope as part of the city’s buzz.
"It's surreal - a pope from Chicago. You'd never forget it," said Anthony Skokal. "It's brought the city together in many ways, and hopefully, it'll continue to be that way."
Despite the setback, Chicago still leads the ALDS two games to one and gets another shot to clinch in front of its home crowd Thursday night.
In Other News...
White Sox Enter Crucial Game 4 With One Big Decision Looming
The White Sox are back home for Game 4 of the American League Division Series, with Cleveland still looking for its first homer of the series and Jos Ramrez looming as the most obvious threat to change that. Chicagos pitching plan has not been announced, which makes this feel like one of those October games where the manager is forced to keep a few options open and read the matchup pitch by pitch.
Munetaka Murakami enters the night as the favorite to leave the yard, helped by the kind of postseason power that can tilt a game in a hurry. For the White Sox, the bigger question may be less about who starts and more about how quickly they can match Clevelands urgency if the Guardians finally start driving the ball with authority. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Suddenly Have A Big-Inning Problem At The Worst Time
The White Sox had the kind of night that can flip a Division Series in an instant, building leads of 2-0 and 4-3 before watching the game slip away against the Guardians. Early pitching trouble from Hagen Smith and Jordan Hicks put pressure on Chicago right away, and even after the offense did enough to keep the game close, the pitching staff could not hold the line long enough to protect the advantage.
The pivotal stretch came in the sixth, when Cleveland pushed across multiple runs against Anthony Kay and Grant Taylor and turned a one-run game into a much steeper climb for Chicago. A late White Sox push kept things from getting completely out of hand, but the comeback effort never quite got there, leaving the club to regroup as the series shifts to Cleveland. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Let A Closeout Game Turn Into A Brutal Reset
A chance to take a commanding step in the American League Division Series slipped away as the White Sox were beaten 9-3 by the Guardians in Game 3, trimming Chicagos series lead to 2-1. What had looked like a closeout opportunity instead turned into a night in which Clevelands pitching dictated the pace, piling up 19 strikeouts in nine innings and setting a major league postseason record in the process.
Chicago also had to watch Clevelands lineup come alive at key moments, with Jos Ramrez collecting two hits that included a two-run triple. Jo Adell added to the damage with a bases-clearing triple, turning what had been a tight postseason game into a stern reset for a White Sox club that now has a shorter runway than it did before first pitch. [Read more 🡒]