Will Venable made the call Friday: Sean Burke will take the ball for the White Sox in Saturday’s Game 5, with everything hanging in the balance.
The winner-take-all ALDS showdown shifts to Cleveland, where Chicago and the Guardians are deadlocked at 2-2. The team that comes out on top will move on to face the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL Championship Series, which begins Monday.
Burke gives the White Sox a starter with recent success against this exact opponent. He earned the win in Game 2 of the series on Oct. 5 in Cleveland, working 5.1 innings and allowing one run. He also arrives with something rare on this Chicago staff: four days without throwing a pitch.
The 26-year-old has been tough on the Guardians all year. Entering the postseason, Burke was 2-0 with a 1.04 ERA against Cleveland, giving up just two earned runs over 17.1 innings. He also walked three and struck out 21.
Cleveland’s side points to Gavin Williams, who handled the final 18 pitches of Game 4 and finished the ninth inning scoreless. Guardians manager Stephen Vogt could make that start official later Friday.
If Williams gets the nod, rest becomes one of the key layers in Saturday’s matchup. Burke will be coming in with four days between outings.
Williams would be on shorter turnaround after pitching in Game 4. That also raises the question of how long each manager is willing to stay with his starter.
One thing is already clear: the Rays are in a good spot either way. They’ll have the edge in rest no matter which club survives Saturday.
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 🡒]