The Chicago White Sox had their chance to finish the job at home, and instead they walked straight into a Game 5.
Cleveland beat Chicago 9-5 on Thursday in Game 4 of the American League Division Series, forcing the series back to Cleveland for a winner-take-all finale. For the White Sox, it was a night that started with a clear need - pitch well, avoid a return trip, close things out - and unraveled almost immediately.
The opener, Hagen Smith, lasted just two outs before loading the bases. Erick Fedde came in and managed to get the inning’s final out, but the calm didn’t last long. Fedde held on until Guardians catcher Patrick Bailey launched a solo homer, and that was the first crack in a night that kept widening.
Will Venable turned to Jordan Hicks in the fifth to deal with José Ramírez, and Ramírez answered right away with a two-run homer to put Cleveland ahead. From there, the White Sox bullpen was buried. Anthony Kay allowed two runs while recording only one out, and then came the move that made the whole thing feel even more out of hand: Grant Taylor entered in the sixth with runners on.
Taylor had already been leaned on hard this postseason, and he was asked for more in a tied game. The result was a disaster.
He was charged with the blown lead and then gave up four more runs without getting an out, needing 18 pitches to get through nothing. Chicago’s pitching staff looked spent, and it showed at the worst possible time, with an elimination game looming.
The White Sox offense gave itself a real opening early. After striking out 19 times in Game 3, the focus was on better plate discipline, and they got it against Cleveland ace Parker Messick.
Chicago pushed Messick out after just 2.1 innings. He walked four and gave up two runs, but the White Sox couldn’t cash in enough after that.
They stranded 12 runners, managed only one hit with runners in scoring position, and left too many chances sitting on the table. They did score a couple of runs on sacrifice flies, but that wasn’t nearly enough in a playoff game with that many opportunities. It was the kind of missed chance that hangs around.
Now the White Sox head back to Cleveland on Saturday after dropping both games at home in the series. Sean Burke is likely to get the ball, and he has been Chicago’s only reliable starter this postseason.
In Game 3, Burke allowed one run over 5.1 innings, and with an off-day giving the bullpen a bit of breathing room, Chicago will still need length from him. That’s especially true after Taylor’s 18 pitches in Game 4.
There was at least one small silver lining for Chicago: Cleveland had to use Gavin Williams in the ninth inning. Even so, the Guardians may be in a tricky spot on the mound after deploying eight pitchers Thursday. However it lines up, Game 5 should be a tense one.
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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.
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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 🡒]