Petey Halpin made sure the Guardians’ night belonged to someone other than Tommy Pham.
For a while, it looked like Pham was going to hijack the whole thing. The White Sox outfielder, activated off the injured list after what the source described as a successful elevator pitch to general manager Chris Getz on Tuesday night, drilled a go-ahead homer in the fifth inning Wednesday for his first hit of the season. He even piled on by publicly taking aim at the White Sox training staff in a mid-game interview with ESPN.
That blast had all the makings of the night’s defining moment. Instead, Halpin ripped the script away an inning later.
The Guardians outfielder launched a two-out, three-run homer off Sean Newcomb in the sixth, flipping the game back in Cleveland’s favor and sending the Guardians to a 6-3 win over the White Sox. The victory pushed Cleveland into first place in the American League Central, giving the club its first division lead since July.
Halpin’s homer was the kind of swing that can change the feel of a season, especially from a player who came in carrying a .552 OPS with two home runs in 73 games. It also came in a spot where Cleveland needed somebody unexpected to deliver.
Rookie Hagan Smith had started the inning with a scoreless fifth, but after he walked David Fry and Austin Hedges, White Sox manager turned to Newcomb for the lefty-lefty matchup against Halpin. Halpin won it.
The bigger picture around the Guardians’ win still had plenty of familiar fingerprints on it. Parker Messick gave Cleveland six innings and struck out eight, allowing just one damaging mistake - Pham’s homer.
José Ramírez snapped out of his September slump with two doubles. Cade Smith handled the last four outs to lock down the save.
That combination of an unexpected hero and the usual core contributors was enough to put Cleveland on top in a tight race. The Guardians now have a week-and-a-half to protect the slim lead they’ve grabbed.
The White Sox get their first shot at taking it back Thursday against the Tigers, and that series opener will even the teams in games played. If Chicago wins, it will reclaim the division lead through the head-to-head tiebreaker. If it loses, Cleveland will head into the final 10 days of the season up by one game.
For one night, though, the only number that mattered was the one next to the Guardians in the standings. After a bumpy route, they’re waking up in first place.
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 🡒]