Chicago White Sox Take 2-0 Series Lead Over Cleveland Guardians
The Chicago White Sox return home holding a 2-0 advantage in the American League Division Series after defeating the Cleveland Guardians 4-3 on Monday, placing the franchise one win away from reaching the league championship series for the first time in 21 years. Braden Montgomery delivered the decisive blow in the sixth inning with a two-run double down the right-field line to take the lead. Sean Burke then delivered 5 1/3 innings of stellar relief work, surrendering just one hit to secure the victory. The surprising Chicago squad has opened the postseason with a 4-0 record entirely on the road, following a 2024 campaign that saw the team drop a post-1900 record of 121 games. Chicago became the first team to reach the postseason following three consecutive 100-loss seasons.
Bullpen Dominance and Sixth-Inning Rally Decide Game Two
Those runs marked the first time the White Sox trailed at any point during their four-game postseason run. Gavin Williams stifled the Chicago bats early, striking out 11 batters over 5 1/3 innings, a performance that tied for the second-most strikeouts in a Cleveland postseason game. The White Sox finally broke through against the Cleveland bullpen in the sixth. Randal Grichuk walked before a wild pitch by losing pitcher Erik Sabrowski, with Tommy Pham at the plate, moved the runners to second and third. Pham flayed out to a short left fielder before Montgomery attacked a first-pitch fastball for a double to make it 3-2. Montgomery celebrated at second base before scoring on Chase Meidroth’s single to right field. I was just ready for something I could attack, and I was ready for his hardest stuff. I gave myself the best chance to succeed,
Montgomery said. I can’t even describe how it felt. It’s exciting. I was just taking it all in.
Meidroth followed with an RBI single to stretch the lead to 4-2. Munetaka Murakami hit an RBI single in the fourth to pull Chicago within 2-1. Burke entered the game with one out in the third inning. After Travis Bazzana walked with one out in the fourth, the right-hander retired 13 batters until Chase DeLauter notched a single to left field to bring an end to Burke’s night. Burke struck out six and threw 83 pitches, including 53 strikes, to earn the win. I was able to settle down and find my rhythm,
Burke said. Chase DeLauter had two hits for the Guardians.
Historical Stakes Await Game Three at Guaranteed Rate Field
Han’s been waiting 120 years, so maybe we can do it this year,
Taylor said, adding, I think it’s going to be amazing. Those fans deserve it. They’ve been with us through three 100-loss seasons and they’ve been with us a good part of this year giving us a lot of support as we went through this. So being able to give them a postseason game is going to be something very special.
Manager Will Venable praised the resilience of his roster, noting that the players maintain confidence regardless of past results. Our club has had confidence all year, regardless of the previous result,
Venable said. They come ready to play and turn the page. Now, we’re very excited to bring playoff baseball to our fans.
We’ve had two-game stretches like this all year and we bounced right back, so I have a lot of faith in this offense, a lot of faith in this club,
Vogt said. We have a lot of work ahead of us. Like I said, this team plays its best baseball with its back against the wall.
Keep reading