CHICAGO — Jo Adell gave Cleveland the swing it needed with its season on the line Wednesday, ripping a three-run triple in the third inning of Game 3 of the American League Division Series and sending the Guardians ahead 4-1 against the White Sox at Rate Field.
Adell’s third-inning answer
- The Guardians entered Game 3 facing elimination, while Chicago stood one victory from reaching the American League Championship Series.
- With the bases full in the third, Adell fell behind 1-2 against White Sox left-hander Hagen Smith.
- Adell drove Smith’s four-seam fastball down the first-base line and into the right-field corner, clearing the bases as the charged-up Chicago crowd went quiet.
- He slid headfirst into third safely, then sprang up with a hard fist pump as Cleveland took a three-run advantage.
It was Adell’s first defining October moment after a long wait. This is his first postseason appearance, following six and a half seasons with the Angels in which he watched the playoffs from home. Cleveland acquired him in August ahead of the Trade Deadline, and he needed only three postseason games to leave a mark on the club’s record book.
Rare company in Cleveland October history
Adell’s triple became the fourth game-tying or lead-changing three-bagger in Cleveland postseason history. The previous players to produce one were Omar Vizquel, who did it in Game 2 of the 1999 ALDS and Game 3 of the 1995 World Series, and Vic Wertz in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series.
He also joined Kenny Lofton as the only Cleveland hitters with more than one triple in the same postseason series. Lofton collected two during the 1995 ALCS, though it took him 50 postseason games with Cleveland to reach that total. Adell has matched it in three games.
His first came in the Guardians’ 4-3 Game 2 loss, when he sent a ball projected at 413 feet off the 19-foot wall at Progressive Field for an RBI triple. It narrowly missed becoming a home run. In Chicago, there was no need to wonder how far it might travel. The ball found the corner, three runs came home, and the Guardians had their October lifeline.
