The Cleveland Guardians refused to let their season end on Wednesday night, producing one of the most dominant pitching performances in franchise postseason history to beat the Chicago White Sox 9-3 in Game 3 of the American League Division Series and keep the series alive at 2-1.
Facing elimination after dropping the first two games, Cleveland's pitching staff struck out 19 White Sox batters across nine innings — a new franchise postseason record for strikeouts in a nine-inning game. Opener Daniel Espino set the tone before six relievers took over, with Foster Griffin leading the way with seven strikeouts over 2.2 innings and Cade Smith punching out five across the final two frames.
Offence wakes up
The pitching effort was backed by an offence that finally came alive after managing just three runs across the first two games of the series. Cleveland collected 11 hits, with Jo Adell delivering a bases-clearing triple in the third inning before Jose Ramirez added a two-run triple in the eighth. The two triples made the Guardians the first major league team to record two triples in a postseason game since the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the 2024 World Series. Ramirez finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored, two RBIs and a walk, becoming the 10th player in MLB postseason history to record a double, triple and stolen base in the same game.
The White Sox had struck first when catcher Kyle Teel doubled home the game's opening run, and the home crowd of 40,590 — the franchise's first home playoff game since 2021 — sensed a series-clinching night. But Chicago went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight baserunners as Cleveland pulled away.
Venable stays confident
Despite the crushing loss, White Sox manager Will Venable backed his side to finish the job at home on Thursday. "A hundred percent confidence. We've done it all year," he said. "We've been in tough spots where we haven't played our best games... Whatever the result, these guys come back the next day."
Game 4 is scheduled for Thursday in Chicago, with Parker Messick set to start for Cleveland. A Guardians win would send the series back to Cleveland for a deciding fifth game.
Sources: Fox News/Outkick | Fox Sports | Athlon Sports
Facing elimination after dropping the first two games, Cleveland's pitching staff struck out 19 White Sox batters across nine innings — a new franchise postseason record for strikeouts in a nine-inning game. Opener Daniel Espino set the tone before six relievers took over, with Foster Griffin leading the way with seven strikeouts over 2.2 innings and Cade Smith punching out five across the final two frames.
Offence wakes up
The pitching effort was backed by an offence that finally came alive after managing just three runs across the first two games of the series. Cleveland collected 11 hits, with Jo Adell delivering a bases-clearing triple in the third inning before Jose Ramirez added a two-run triple in the eighth. The two triples made the Guardians the first major league team to record two triples in a postseason game since the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the 2024 World Series. Ramirez finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored, two RBIs and a walk, becoming the 10th player in MLB postseason history to record a double, triple and stolen base in the same game.
The White Sox had struck first when catcher Kyle Teel doubled home the game's opening run, and the home crowd of 40,590 — the franchise's first home playoff game since 2021 — sensed a series-clinching night. But Chicago went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight baserunners as Cleveland pulled away.
Venable stays confident
Despite the crushing loss, White Sox manager Will Venable backed his side to finish the job at home on Thursday. "A hundred percent confidence. We've done it all year," he said. "We've been in tough spots where we haven't played our best games... Whatever the result, these guys come back the next day."
Game 4 is scheduled for Thursday in Chicago, with Parker Messick set to start for Cleveland. A Guardians win would send the series back to Cleveland for a deciding fifth game.
Sources: Fox News/Outkick | Fox Sports | Athlon Sports