Patrick Bailey arrived late Thursday night, but he did not arrive quietly. The Cleveland catcher came off the bench in the fifth inning and helped swing an elimination game, driving the Guardians to a 9-5 comeback win over the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field.
Cleveland’s victory evened the American League Division Series and sent it back to Progressive Field for a winner-take-all Game 5 on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET, 7 p.m. CT, with TBS, truTV, UniMas and HBO Max carrying the game.
Quick facts
- Bailey went 2-for-3, scored twice and drove in two runs after entering in the fifth.
- His pinch-hit homer traveled a projected 376 feet and was Cleveland’s fourth pinch-hit postseason homer.
- José Ramírez followed with a two-run homer as the Guardians briefly grabbed the lead in the fifth.
- Cleveland put up five runs in the sixth and held a 9-4 advantage when the inning ended.
- The Guardians have scored at least nine runs in consecutive postseason elimination games, becoming the fifth club in MLB history to do it.
Bailey was not in the original lineup because Austin Hedges usually catches Parker Messick. Messick lasted only 2 1/3 innings, however, and Bailey was called upon with Cleveland trailing.
He quickly gave the dugout a jolt. Bailey turned on a sinker left over the plate and sent it just inside the right-field pole, trimming Chicago’s lead to 2-1. It was only the Guardians’ second hit of the night and quieted a crowd of 39,920.
“I got a pitch I could handle in a hitter’s count and did something with it,” Bailey said. “It got the group going a little bit. José hit a huge homer after that. It was a fun game with a lot of back-and-forth and good baseball.”
Ramírez’s two-run shot came three hitters later, though the White Sox answered in the bottom half to reclaim the advantage. Bailey got another chance in the sixth, and it came against Chicago reliever Grant Taylor.
Taylor entered having allowed one unearned run over 7 2/3 postseason innings while striking out 11. With one out, Bailey lined an opposite-field RBI single to put Cleveland ahead for good.
The hit opened the door for a crushing inning. Six straight Guardians reached base, Travis Bazzana had already tied the game with an RBI double, and Cleveland stretched the margin to five runs before Chicago could get off the field.
Manager Stephen Vogt praised the club’s response against Taylor, saying the hitters stayed disciplined against difficult pitches and did not try to force the moment. Cleveland kept taking what it was given and kept adding runs.
“This group has responded all season,” Vogt said. “We talk about answering and punching back, and they did that again.”
Bailey’s two-RBI night placed him in rare company. Since RBIs became an official statistic in 1920, only five players have recorded multiple RBI hits in a postseason game they did not start: Bailey, Raul Ibanez in 2012, Brian Hunter in 1991, Rob Wilfong in 1986 and Dusty Rhodes in 1954.
He had already contributed in Cleveland’s 9-3 Game 3 win Wednesday, collecting two hits and a walk. The Guardians acquired him in May with moments like these in mind.
Bailey owns four career walk-off homers, including a grand slam and an inside-the-park shot. A mechanical adjustment in July helped unlock more regular power, and eight of his 10 home runs this season came across his final 54 games.
Ramírez said Bailey’s energy was evident as soon as he entered. “He always brings something extra,” Ramírez said through interpreter Agustin Rivero. “Once he got into the game, things started to happen.”
Bailey is expected to return to the lineup for Saturday’s deciding game. Gavin Williams, who finished Thursday’s win, remains an option to start for Cleveland.
For Bailey, the message before Game 4 was simple: lose and the season ends. Instead, the Guardians bought themselves one more home game.
“We knew we were done if we lost, so we might as well go win,” Bailey said. “We have one more to get at home. It was an incredible atmosphere, and we’re excited to get back to Cleveland for Game 5.”
