Foster Griffin stepped into the loudest spot of Cleveland’s season with two runners in scoring position, two outs in the first inning and no room for a mistake. The 31-year-old left-hander answered with a strikeout, then gave the Guardians the long relief performance that changed Game 3 of the American League Division Series at Rate Field. Cleveland beat the White Sox, 9-3, to pull within 2-1 in the best-of-five series and send the matchup to a win-or-go-home Game 4.
Key takeaways
- Griffin struck out seven White Sox hitters across 2 2/3 innings, the most strikeouts by a Cleveland reliever in one postseason game.
- His 53-pitch outing included 39 strikes and helped Cleveland establish a franchise postseason record with 19 strikeouts in nine innings.
- Steven Kwan’s RBI single was part of Cleveland’s third-inning push that turned a one-run deficit into a lead.
- After Griffin departed, Shawn Armstrong, Joey Cantillo, Hunter Gaddis, Tim Herrin and Cade Smith finished the victory.
- Game 4 is set for Thursday at 5 p.m. ET, with TBS, truTV, UniMas and HBO Max carrying the game; it would move to 8 p.m. ET if Tampa Bay eliminates the Yankees.
Griffin handles the October assignment
Manager Stephen Vogt used Daniel Espino as an opener, but the plan changed quickly when Chicago grabbed an early advantage. With Tristan Peters, the 2026 All-Star, coming up in a first-inning threat, Vogt called for Griffin. It marked Griffin’s first MLB relief appearance since 2022 and his first postseason outing.
Griffin got Peters swinging to leave the runners aboard, a result that settled an otherwise frenzied ballpark packed with 40,590 fans rooting for the White Sox. He followed with a clean second inning that included two strikeouts.
Cleveland moved in front during the third, with Kwan driving in a run on a single. Griffin then faced a fresh test after Sam Antonacci was hit by a pitch to begin the bottom half. The lefty responded by striking out the next three hitters, cutting off Chicago’s chance to answer immediately.
Kwan said the move caught him off guard because he had not realized Griffin was ready in the bullpen. Once Griffin appeared, though, Kwan saw a pitcher working with changing looks, altered timing and different angles. The biggest value, Kwan said, was the way Griffin absorbed meaningful innings for the bullpen.
“My goal in the first was just to get us back in the dugout and keep the damage limited,” Griffin said. “Once we got rolling, the momentum shifted our way and it became difficult for them to slow us down.”
Griffin’s road to this moment had included the Minor Leagues, the Major Leagues and three seasons in Japan from 2023 through 2025. Cleveland acquired him from Washington at the Trade Deadline after he posted a 3.06 ERA in 22 starts. His nine starts with the Guardians were rougher, producing a 5.19 ERA down the stretch, and he had not appeared in a game since Sept. 23 in Boston.
Still, Griffin said all of those stops prepared him for a playoff atmosphere in which the crowd was against him from his first pitch. He said the varied experiences of his career helped keep the game from speeding up on him.
A short outing with a long effect
Griffin used all seven pitches in his mix, with the sweeper and fastball responsible for five of his seven strikeouts. He finally encountered trouble in the fourth, when Chase Meidroth and Peters opened the inning with consecutive doubles to make it 4-2. Griffin ended his day by striking out Braden Montgomery.
Armstrong collected the last two outs of the fourth, and Cleveland’s remaining relievers protected the lead as the offense pulled away. Cantillo, Gaddis, Herrin and Smith each worked in the effort as the Guardians extended their season.
Vogt praised Griffin for delivering eight major outs when the game could have tilted further toward Chicago. The manager noted that postseason scripts rarely survive first contact, and Griffin gave Cleveland precisely the response it needed after Espino’s brief start.
“You feel only the pressure you create for yourself,” Vogt said. “This was a win-or-go-home day, and tomorrow is the same. We have a chance to win and bring this back to Cleveland.”
