Cleveland dragged the American League Division Series back home for one final night, rallying past the White Sox, 9-5, Thursday before 39,920 at Rate Field. The clubs will meet in a winner-take-all Game 5 on Saturday at Progressive Field, with a berth in the AL Championship Series against the Rays on the line.
| ALDS Game 4 | R |
|---|---|
| Guardians | 9 |
| White Sox | 5 |
Game 5 is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET (7 p.m. CT) and will air on TBS, truTV, UniMas and HBO Max. Cleveland will try to become the rare club to advance after dropping both opening home games of a series.
A sixth-inning swing
The White Sox carried a 4-3 edge into the sixth, but Grant Taylor could not add another October escape to his growing résumé. Taylor entered with the game tied and faced six Cleveland hitters; every one reached base in a six-run inning.
He issued two walks and surrendered four singles. Jo Adell delivered the decisive blow, lining a two-run single to right as Cleveland turned a one-run deficit into a five-run cushion.
It was an unfamiliar rough patch for Taylor, who had worked 54 pitches while finishing Game 1 of the Wild Card Series against Houston. He also collected two saves in Cleveland during this postseason, including a four-inning save in the first game of this ALDS.
White Sox built, then regained, the lead
Chicago jumped in front 2-0, but Cleveland answered with three runs in the fifth. José Ramírez supplied the biggest hit of that inning with a home run.
The White Sox immediately fought back against Tanner Bibee and Tim Herrin. Bibee walked Chase Meidroth and Miguel Vargas before his night ended. Munetaka Murakami then singled to left off Herrin, loading the bases.
Sam Antonacci was struck by a pitch to bring home the tying run, then Brenton Doyle lifted a sacrifice fly that put Chicago back ahead. The crowd answered with “Let’s Go Sox” chants rolling around the ballpark.
Antonacci made postseason history in the process: after being hit with the bases loaded on consecutive days, he became the first player ever to record multiple bases-loaded hit-by-pitches in the postseason.
Messick could not hold the early advantage
Parker Messick, an American League Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Award candidate, was not at his sharpest. Chicago’s patient work at the plate helped build the early lead.
Colson Montgomery singled in the third and Meidroth doubled. Vargas, behind 0-2, worked a one-out walk to fill the bases. Murakami also recovered from a 1-2 count, drawing a walk that forced in the first run. Antonacci followed against reliever Shawn Armstrong with a sacrifice fly for the second.
That early work gave the White Sox a lead, but Cleveland’s sixth-inning surge made Saturday’s finale unavoidable. One more game now separates the Guardians and White Sox from a date with Tampa Bay.
