The Cleveland Guardians walked into their showdown with the Chicago White Sox armed with one of September’s most dangerous weapons: a bullpen that has been among the best in baseball. Instead, the night turned fast.
Gavin Williams was supposed to set the tone in the opener of the series for first place in the AL Central. He was on the mound, and the relief corps was lined up behind him if Cleveland needed it.
But Williams had to grind through 113 pitches just to record 15 outs, and his night ended after he walked Tristan Peters in the middle of an 18-pitch battle. That left first and second with nobody out in a scoreless game, and the relievers were immediately thrown into trouble.
Chicago took full advantage. The White Sox scored six runs in that sixth inning, with four of them charged to Cleveland’s bullpen, and rolled to a 7-2 win. The result flipped the division picture the wrong way for the Guardians, who now trail Chicago by 1.5 games.
Even with that costly collapse, the bigger body of work still points to a bullpen that has carried real weight this month. Cleveland’s relief group has posted a 2.24 ERA in September, allowing 14 earned runs in 56 1/3 innings. That marks the second-lowest ERA in the majors, trailing only Toronto’s 2.10.
The rough inning against the White Sox came after a stretch in which the bullpen had helped Cleveland claw back into the race. The Guardians had fallen as far as 6.0 games behind Chicago in mid-August, but the relief pitching helped drag them back into contention. Cleveland also regained the third AL wild card, while holding a 1.0-game edge over the Blue Jays and a 1.5-game lead over the Texas Rangers.
Still, the series took a hit because of how that sixth inning unraveled. Tim Herrin allowed the two inherited runners to score and also gave up three runs, one earned, in two-thirds of an inning.
Daniel Espino, working as the opener against the Minnesota Twins on Saturday, surrendered a long two-run homer to Miguel Vargas before finishing the frame. Slade Cecconi, once a starter, and Connor Brogdon handled the rest.
The Guardians are still in position to leave the series in first place, and if that happens, their bullpen will almost certainly be part of the reason. Cleveland is also looking for a bounce-back performance on Tuesday.
In Other News...
Guardians Rookie Just Delivered The Response Cleveland Needed Most
Petey Halpin gave Cleveland exactly the kind of night a young player can use to change the conversation. After an early defensive misplay, the rookie answered with the biggest swing of the game, a go-ahead three-run homer against the White Sox that helped the Guardians beat Chicago 6-3 and move into first place in the AL Central. It was the sort of response teams remember, especially from a player still trying to carve out his place on a club with real division ambitions.
Halpins night carried a little extra weight because of the matchup, too. He had not done much against left-handed pitching before, but he came through with his first home run off a lefty and added key hits along the way, drawing praise from teammates and coaches for the way he handled the moment. For Cleveland, it was more than a promising rookie performance. It was the kind of contribution that can steady a dugout and hint at what the Guardians might have in him going forward. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Just Grabbed Back First Place At The Perfect Time
Parker Messick and Anthony Kay gave the night an immediate feel of a game that would be shaped on the margins, and for a while that is exactly how it played. Cleveland and Chicago matched up with both starters leaning on the same trends they had shown against this opponent all season, before the Guardians found a third-inning breakthrough and started stacking enough contact and pressure to turn it their way.
Jo Adell, Tommy Pham, Petey Halpin and Jose all helped push the inning-to-inning advantage along, while the bullpen piece mattered just as much once the lead was in hand. Hagen Smith, Sean Newcomb and Hunter Gaddis each had a hand in the late work, and for Cleveland the bigger picture was as important as the box score: a win like this came at exactly the right moment in a tight race, with first place back within reach again. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Face A Steven Kwan Decision Fans May Hate
Steven Kwans name has become one of the more interesting long-term conversations around Cleveland as the season moves along, because the Guardians are staring at a familiar kind of front-office crossroads. He is entering the final year of his contract, and after 2027 he could be on track for free agency, which makes his future a real issue for a club that has to balance present value with the realities of its roster cycle.
Kwans season has still carried plenty of value, with his overall impact showing up strongly in bWAR even as his offense has been a little below his usual standard. That tension is what makes the coming offseason so delicate for Cleveland: whether to explore a trade while his market is still strong or push for a long-term extension and keep one of its most recognizable everyday players in place. [Read more 🡒]