José Ramírez homered and drove in three runs, and the Cleveland Guardians beat the Chicago White Sox 9-5 on Thursday night to send their American League Division Series to a winner-take-all Game 5.
Down to their final outs of the season for the second straight day, the Guardians won again in Chicago after dropping the first two games of the series at home. Cleveland is now trying to become the first team to rally from a 2-0 deficit in a best-of-five series since the 2017 New York Yankees did it — against Cleveland. History says the odds remain steep: teams leading 2-0 in best-of-five postseason series have gone on to win 83 of 93 times.
The comeback turned in the fifth and sixth innings. Pinch-hitter Patrick Bailey led off the fifth with a home run, and an inning later Jo Adell capped a six-run sixth with a two-run single. Chicago’s bullpen, a strength all season, suddenly looked exhausted: reliever Grant Taylor, who had thrown 5⅓ scoreless innings over the series’ first two games, allowed four runs and four hits without retiring any of the six batters he faced.
Miguel Vargas homered late for Chicago and Sam Antonacci drove in two runs, but the White Sox wasted their second straight chance to clinch a postseason series at home. Game 2 starter Gavin Williams recorded the final three outs for Cleveland in his first career relief appearance — and could start Game 5 on Saturday night back in Cleveland.
A season that looked finished on Monday is now one win from the ALCS. That is the thing about elimination games: win two, and the third stops feeling like a miracle and starts feeling like a plan.
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