GUARDIANS BEAT WHITE SOX TO COMPLETE ALDS COMEBACK

Cleveland Guardians beat the Chicago White Sox 2-0 on Saturday night in Game 5 of their American League Division Series, completing a comeback from a 2-0 deficit in the best-of-five contest. Gavin Williams struck out 12 batters in the game, while José Ramírez supplied the only scoring with a two-run home run off Sean Burke, his second consecutive game with a home run in the series. The result sends Cleveland into the American League Championship Series, where they are due to face the Tampa Bay Rays from Monday night. Guardians pitchers combined for 21 strikeouts, described in the report as the most recorded in a nine-inning postseason game. Chicago managed just three hits and put only nine balls in play during the game.

Williams did not allow a hit until Kyle Teel singled into right field with two outs in the sixth inning, two innings after Ramírez's home run. A walk then loaded the bases before Erik Sabrowski relieved Williams and struck out Munetaka Murakami to end the threat. Hunter Gaddis followed with four outs, and Cade Smith closed out the game for his first career five-out save, striking out the side in the ninth inning and finishing by striking out Tristan Peters. Williams's 12 strikeouts tied Cleveland's own record for a postseason game, and he recorded 22 swings and misses. He became only the third pitcher in postseason history to record the final out of a game and then start the following game, with his team facing elimination on both occasions.

Across his three series starts, Williams struck out 24 batters in total, a figure the report said ties for the second most recorded in a best-of-five postseason series. Chicago struck out 75 times over the five games and had been the first team to reach the playoffs after three straight seasons of 100 losses, having last won the World Series in 2004. Cleveland's victory, celebrated by players at Progressive Field, moves the franchise closer to a first World Series appearance since 2016. The Guardians, previously known as the Indians, have not won a World Series title since 1948, which the report described as the longest drought among Major League Baseball teams.