CLEVELAND — Gavin Williams recorded 12 of a record 21 strikeouts by Cleveland pitchers, and José Ramírez hit a go-ahead home run as the Guardians defeated the Chicago White Sox 2-0 on Saturday night, completing a comeback from an 0-2 deficit in their best-of-five AL Division Series.
Cleveland will open the AL Championship Series against Tampa Bay on Monday night, aiming for its first World Series appearance since 2016. The Guardians franchise last won the title in 1948, marking the longest championship drought among Major League Baseball teams.
The Guardians' pitching staff set a record for strikeouts in a nine-inning postseason game, achieving the most strikeouts in any regular or postseason game since at least 1900. The White Sox managed only three hits, put just nine balls in play, and concluded the series with 75 strikeouts and a .185 batting average.
“It was less about chase and more about being attacked in the zone and swing and miss in the zone,” said White Sox manager Will Venable. “Just didn’t have what it would have took to move some balls forward there.”
Cleveland became only the 11th team to win a best-of-five series after falling behind 0-2, the first since the 2017 Yankees against the Indians, and only the fourth to achieve this after losing the first two games at home.
Two days after saving Game 4, Williams became the third pitcher in postseason history to get the last out of a game and start the following game when his team faced elimination in both. He did not allow a hit until Kyle Teel looped a knuckle-curve into right field with two outs in the sixth inning, two innings after Ramírez homered for the second consecutive game, hitting a two-run drive off Sean Burke.
After a walk loaded the bases, Erik Sabrowski relieved and struck out Munetaka Murakami on a foul tip, prompting a reaction from the pitcher. Williams’ 12 strikeouts tied Cleveland’s record for a postseason game. He achieved 22 swings and misses, and his 24 strikeouts over three games were one shy of the record for a best-of-five postseason series.
“That was big-boy stuff today,” said Guardians manager Stephen Vogt. “We’ve seen other performances like that in the postseason, but to do it in this stage and these types of games facing three straight elimination and you have one of your starters say I will pitch whenever you need me to, super impressive.”
Hunter Gaddis followed Sabrowski and recorded four outs, while Cade Smith completed the game for his first career five-out save, striking out the side in the ninth inning. He secured the final out by striking out Tristan Peters, leading to a celebration at Progressive Field.
Chicago, which reached the playoffs after three consecutive 100-loss seasons, has not won the World Series since 2005. Ramírez homered on a knuckle-curve that was 0.74 feet above ground, the lowest pitch hit for a postseason home run since tracking began in 2008, according to MLB Statcast, and the lowest hit by Ramírez in his 14-year big league career.
Steven Kwan had singled leading off the fourth inning ahead of Ramírez’s sixth postseason homer, which went just over the wall near the right-field line. Murakami and Andrew Benintendi struck out four times each, while Teel and Chase Meidroth struck out three times each.
Tampa Bay went 5-1 against the Guardians during the regular season, including three shutouts. This will be the third postseason meeting between the teams, following the Rays’ win in the 2013 wild card game and the Guardians’ sweep in the 2022 wild card series.