The Guardians stared down a 2-0 hole after dropping the first two games at home, a spot that has buried plenty of teams in division series history. Only eight clubs had ever erased that kind of deficit in MLB’s postseason entering Saturday, and under the current 2-2-1 setup, just the 2015 Blue Jays and the 2001 Yankees had pulled it off before. Cleveland joined that short list with a 2-0 win over the White Sox in Game 5.
Gavin Williams and José Ramírez carried the day. Williams, making his third appearance of the series, was dominant again.
He struck out 12 in 5 2/3 innings, and the White Sox didn’t record a hit until the sixth. His 12 strikeouts set a new Guardians postseason record, while his 24 strikeouts for the series rank second all-time in a single division series, behind only Gerrit Cole.
The total also stands as the second-most strikeouts in a winner-take-all postseason game.
The workload was unusual, too. Williams had never pitched out of the bullpen before, but after striking out 11 in five innings in Game 2, he told Stephen Vogt he was ready if the team needed him in Game 4.
Cleveland did need him, and he answered with a clean ninth inning to close out the White Sox on Thursday. Two days later, he was back on the mound and emptied the tank again.
After Williams left in the sixth, Erik Sabrowski was handed a tense spot with the bases loaded, two outs and Munetaka Murakami at the plate. Will Venable stuck with Murakami instead of going to a pinch-hitter, and Sabrowski rewarded that decision by striking him out to end the threat.
The offense still had to provide the breakthrough, and Ramírez supplied it. In the fourth inning, he turned a pitch near his ankles into a two-run homer to right, opening the scoring and giving Cleveland a 2-0 lead. The pitch came in 0.74 feet off the ground, making it the lowest pitch Ramírez has ever homered off and the lowest pitch ever hit for a postseason home run since tracking began in 2008, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com.
Ramírez’s regular season was hampered by a hamate injury, and he never quite looked like himself. He hit .235, his lowest average since 2015, and finished with 12 homers, his fewest since 2016.
But he was healthy for October, and when Cleveland needed a response, he kept coming through. He had two extra-base hits and two RBIs in Game 3, another multi-hit night in Game 4 that included a two-run homer, and then the two-run blast in Game 5 that gave the Guardians early momentum.
For the series, Ramírez went 5-for-18 with four extra-base hits, two home runs, seven RBIs and three walks. That was exactly the kind of production Cleveland needed from the face of its franchise.
The win also flipped a rough history in winner-take-all games. Before Saturday, Cleveland had won only two of 11 such games.
And among the teams that had previously come back from 2-0 down in a division series, the Guardians had been on the losing end twice. This time, Williams and Ramírez pushed them through, and Cleveland is headed back to the ALCS for the second time in three seasons.
In Other News...
White Sox Have A Rotation Target Fans Should Take Seriously
The White Sox have turned the page to offseason planning after being knocked out of postseason contention by the Guardians, and the rotation is one of the first places the front office is likely to look for help. One name that is already worth keeping an eye on is Michael King, the Padres right-hander who fits the profile of a pitcher who could steady a staff that needs more certainty heading into next year.
King has drawn interest because of the way he pitched across both the regular season and October, giving him the kind of track record that can matter to a team looking for a dependable starter rather than a quick fix. He has also made it known he would like to stay in San Diego, but the market may still pull him into a broader sweep of free agency, which is why Chicago could have to move quickly if it wants to get seriously involved. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Have A Rotation Problem Three Arms Could Complicate
Pitching depth loomed large in the White Soxs AL Division Series collapse, and the issue is carrying straight into the offseason. After blowing a 2-0 lead, Chicagos rotation picture for 2027 already looks like a major talking point, with the front office expected to add arms while sorting through a group of in-house candidates who could help shape the staff.
Among the names to watch are Drew Thorpe, Mike Vasil and Hagen Smith, each bringing a different kind of uncertainty to the conversation. Thorpe has remained one of the more intriguing internal options, Vasil is working his way back, and Smith could get a longer look in a starters role, which gives the Sox a few possible paths but not much certainty yet. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Face A Huge Murakami Decision After His Big Season
Munetaka Murakami quickly became one of the biggest reasons the White Sox pushed all the way to the ALDS in 2026, even if the batting average never told the whole story. Signed to a two-year deal before the season, he delivered the kind of power production and run scoring that made him impossible to ignore, and by the end of the year he had done enough to put himself in position for something bigger than a short-term fit.
The next question now is how long that relationship lasts after his current contract runs out in 2027. ESPNs Jesse Rogers believes the White Sox and Murakami have a real interest in working toward a multi-year extension, which makes sense given how well the first chapter has gone, but there is no indication anything is close yet. For a team that just found a major middle-of-the-order force, the longer-term planning may be just as important as the breakout season itself. [Read more 🡒]