Jo Adell keeps coming through for Cleveland, and Wednesday’s ALDS Game 3 may have been his biggest swing yet.
With the Guardians staring at elimination against the Chicago White Sox, Adell ripped a two-out triple down the right-field line off Hagen Smith in the third inning at Rate Field. The ball cleared the bases, bringing in Steven Kwan, Jose Ramirez and Chase DeLauter and putting Cleveland up 4-1.
JO ADELL CLEARS THE BASES WITH A HUGE TRIPLE 🔥
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) October 7, 2026
The Guardians take a 4-1 lead over the White Sox.
pic.twitter.com/cmFZ4HVlVt
The inning had already started to tilt the Guardians’ way. Kwan had tied the game with an RBI single that scored Travis Bazzana after Chicago opened the afternoon with a 1-0 lead in the first. Then Adell stepped in and delivered the blow that stretched the advantage.
The triple added to what has already been a productive October for Adell, who Cleveland picked up from the Los Angeles Angels at the August 3 MLB trade deadline in a deal for catching prospect Jacob Cozart. The Guardians wanted a right-handed power bat, and they got one. The 27-year-old entered the postseason hitting .244 with a .324 on-base percentage, seven home runs and 32 RBI in 48 games with Cleveland.
This wasn’t even his first big hit of the series. In Game 2 at Progressive Field, Adell had already driven in a run with a triple off the wall against the White Sox.
Now he’s given Cleveland three more RBI in the kind of spot that can change a series. The White Sox came into Wednesday with a 2-0 lead, and the Guardians had to win to keep their season alive. Adell’s blast helped build the early cushion, though Chicago trimmed it to 4-2 in the bottom of the fourth.
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 🡒]