The Guardians were staring straight at elimination Wednesday afternoon, and they answered with a jolt.
Behind José Ramírez, Jo Adell and a record-setting outing from Foster Griffin, Cleveland rolled past the White Sox, 9-3, in Game 3 of the American League Division Series at Rate Field. The White Sox still hold the series edge, 2-1, but the Guardians forced Game 4 and kept their October alive for at least one more night.
Game 4 is set for 5 p.m. Thursday at Rate Field.
Cleveland needed something different after scoring only three runs on seven hits across the first two games, and it got exactly that in the third inning. Travis Bazzana opened the frame with a walk against Bryan Hudson, the second left-hander White Sox manager Will Venable used. Bryan Rocchio followed with a single to right, and Steven Kwan tied the game with a single to left.
Then came the swing that changed the night.
Hagen Smith entered and walked Ramírez to load the bases, and after Chase DeLauter bounced into a force at the plate, Adell stepped in with two outs and ripped a 95-mph fastball past first and into the right-field corner. Three runs scored, Cleveland had a 4-1 lead, and the Guardians never gave it back.
Adell’s triple was a big moment in a game that needed one. During the regular season, he hit one triple. This one gave him two triples in his last three at-bats going back to Game 2 on Monday night.
Ramírez was right in the middle of everything. The seven-time All-Star had been a non-factor since returning from hamate bone surgery on his left hand on June 16, but Wednesday looked more like the version Cleveland needs. He finished 2 for 4 with two runs, two RBI and a stolen base, and he also turned in a strong play at third base.
His impact showed up again in the fifth. Ramírez doubled with one out against Noah Schultz, stole third and scored on DeLauter’s grounder to second as Cleveland stretched the lead to 5-2.
He wasn’t done there. In the eighth, Ramírez sent a two-run triple to left to make it 7-3.
Griffin supplied the kind of relief work that can swing a postseason game all by itself. After coming on in the first for Daniel Espino, the left-hander struck out seven batters in 2 2/3 innings, a franchise postseason record for a Cleveland reliever. He retired seven of the first eight hitters he faced, and six of those outs came on strikeouts.
Chicago did answer a little in the fourth. Chase Meidroth doubled to start the inning, and after a replay review changed what had been called a hit-by-pitch on Tristan Peters into a foul ball, Peters stayed in the at-bat and doubled Meidroth home. Griffin then struck out Braden Montgomery before Shawn Armstrong came in to finish the frame.
The White Sox cut the deficit to 5-3 in the sixth when Hunter Gaddis hit Colson Montgomery and Sam Antonacci with consecutive pitches to force in a run. But Ramírez shut that door, going down on his hip to stop a hard grounder by Miguel Vargas and throwing him out to end the inning.
Cleveland also got key help in the field. Bazzana made a lunging catch with runners on second and third against Kyle Teel in the fifth, then fired to second to catch Miguel Vargas too far off the bag for an inning-ending double play.
The Guardians added insurance in the ninth. Angel Genao doubled, Rocchio singled, and the lead grew to 9-3 before Cade Smith finished the final two innings on 19 pitches.
Espino’s first inning was shaky, and Chicago grabbed a 1-0 lead after Antonacci walked, Vargas singled, Munetaka Murakami struck out and Teel doubled into the right-field corner to bring Antonacci home. Meidroth followed with a chance to do more damage, but Griffin entered and got the final out of the inning.
The White Sox had entered Wednesday with a four-game postseason win streak, including a two-game sweep of Houston and the first two games of this series at Progressive Field. Cleveland snapped that run and, at least for one night, made the matchup look a lot closer than the 2-0 series deficit suggested.
The Guardians have never come back from a 2-0 postseason hole, and only 10 teams have done it, most recently the Yankees against Cleveland in 2017. For now, though, they’ve bought themselves another game.
Left-hander Parker Messick is scheduled to start Game 4 for Cleveland. The White Sox have not announced a starter. The game will be televised by TBS/HBO MAX, TruTV and Univision/TUDN, and carried on ESPN, WTAM 1100, WMMS 100.7, WARF 1350 and the Guardians Radio Network.
In Other News...
Foster Griffin Gave Cleveland The Outing Nobody Saw Coming
Foster Griffin turned an unexpected bullpen call into one of the defining storylines of Game 3 of the American League Division Series, giving Cleveland a lift nobody likely had on the pregame card. In just his second major league relief appearance and his first this season, Griffin worked 2 2/3 innings and punched out seven, a showing that matched the clubs postseason record for strikeouts by a reliever and fit neatly into a night when Clevelands pitchers were overwhelming from top to bottom.
The bigger picture was even more striking. Clevelands staff combined for 19 strikeouts in the nine-inning game, setting an MLB postseason record, and Griffins burst helped underscore how much the Guardians leaned on a performance that came from an arm few could have expected to be central in October. For a team built on pitching depth, it was the kind of outing that can change how a postseason series feels, even if the larger question of where Griffin fits next is still waiting to be answered. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Suddenly Need Their Deadline Bets To Save This Series
The Guardians got exactly the kind of boost they were hoping for from their deadline additions in Game 3, and they needed it. Foster Griffin covered 2.2 innings and earned the win, while Jo Adell delivered a three-run triple in a 9-3 victory over the White Sox that kept Cleveland alive in the ALDS and showed why front offices pay for late-season help.
Now the pressure shifts to Game 4, where Cleveland still has to avoid elimination and Parker Messick is scheduled to start. A series that looked like it might slip away suddenly has some life, but the Guardians will need the very players they added to stabilize the roster to keep extending it. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Need One More Fast Start To Bring This ALDS Home
The Guardians most convincing punch in the ALDS came after they had already dug into the White Sox bullpen, turning Game 3 into a nine-run statement and keeping their season alive. Now the task is simpler on paper and tougher in practice: win again, send the series to a decisive Game 5 back in Cleveland, and make Chicago keep chasing.
Parker Messick is lined up for Game 4, and Clevelands formula is starting to look familiar. The Guardians need another fast start to put pressure on the White Sox early, then ask Messick to work deep enough to avoid exposing a tired bullpen too soon. If they can do both, the series shifts right back to the kind of winner-take-all setting they wanted all along. [Read more 🡒]