The Chicago White Sox had a shot at history in Game 4 of the ALDS, and they let it get away.
Chicago fell 9-5 to the Cleveland Guardians at home, a loss that not only pushed the best-of-five series to 2-2 but also kept alive a brutal drought that now stretches to 120 years. The White Sox have not clinched a playoff series on their home field since Oct. 14, 1906.
Per DraftKings on X, that’s the last time Chicago sealed a postseason series in front of its own fans, a mark the White Sox were trying to erase before Cleveland spoiled the party.
The road to finally ending that streak is still there, but it’s narrow. Chicago has to win Game 5 in Cleveland on Saturday at 8 p.m.
ET on TBS, truTV and HBO Max. If the White Sox survive that one, they would still need to take the American League Championship Series at home against the Tampa Bay Rays before they could finally clinch a playoff series in Chicago for the first time since 1906.
Cleveland is walking into that winner-take-all game with recent memory on its side. The Guardians last clinched a playoff series at home on Oct. 12, 2024, and they now get another chance to do it again Saturday with the series hanging in the balance.
What makes this whole run so striking is how far the White Sox have come just to get here. Chicago lost 101 games in 2023, then followed that with an MLB-record 121 losses in 2024 and 102 more in 2025. This season, though, they did the unthinkable and reached the postseason, becoming the first team to qualify for the MLB playoffs after back-to-back 100-loss seasons.
That turnaround has given the franchise and its fans a real October stage. Now Game 5 will decide whether it becomes a springboard for a deeper run or another painful chapter in a streak that has already lasted more than a century.
In Other News...
Foster Griffin Gave Cleveland The Outing Nobody Saw Coming
Foster Griffins appearance in Game 3 of the American League Division Series was the kind of surprise outing that can change the feel of a postseason game. In just 2 2/3 innings of relief, Griffin struck out seven, matching the Guardians postseason record for strikeouts by a reliever and helping fuel a night in which Clevelands pitching staff piled up 19 strikeouts, an MLB postseason record for a nine-inning game.
What made it stand out even more was the setting around it. This was only Griffins second major league relief appearance and his first this season, so there was no real reason to expect him to become a central figure in a playoff game with that much on the line. Instead, he gave Cleveland an outing nobody saw coming, and in October, those are the performances that tend to linger. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Kept Their Season Alive And Now Everything Comes Home
The Guardians are headed back home with their season still intact after a 9-5 win over the White Sox in Game 4 of the ALDS. Cleveland had to answer after falling into an elimination game, and the lineup delivered enough punch to force a decisive Game 5, with the offense breaking through in a big way and giving the club another chance to keep its October run going.
Jos Ramrez was right in the middle of it, helping steady a night that could have slipped away and giving Cleveland the kind of lift it needed when the pressure was highest. Now the focus shifts back to home turf, where the Guardians will try to finish the job and move on to the ALCS, with everything in the series now coming down to one more game. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Suddenly Face A Game 5 Gavin Williams Dilemma
A tense Game 4 win over the White Sox left the Guardians with a familiar October problem and a new wrinkle at the same time. Stephen Vogt leaned on multiple bullpen arms to protect the lead, and one of the more surprising moves was turning to starter Gavin Williams in relief as Cleveland tried to push the American League Division Series to a winner-take-all Game 5.
That usage now hangs over the next days planning, because Williams had not been part of the late-inning relief mix before and was asked to get through just one inning. Vogt said both Williams and Cade Smith should still be options for Game 5, but Cleveland suddenly has to sort out how much it can ask from a starter it may have needed more than expected just to survive the previous night. [Read more 🡒]