Hard-hitting Guardians beat White Sox to force decisive fifth game in ALDS

Chicago – Jose Ramirez and Patrick Bailey homered and had two hits each as the Cleveland Guardians topped the Chicago White Sox 9-5 on Thursday to force a decisive fifth game in the AL Division Series.

Guardians pitchers registered 12 strikeouts while White Sox pitchers issued seven walks.

Game 5 is Saturday in Cleveland, with the winner advancing to oppose the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL Championship Series.

“I think it’s going to be crazy,“ Ramirez said through an interpreter. “I mean, incredible energy. But for us, it’s going to be the same mindset and trying to win the game and enjoy the environment.”

Chicago squandered a second straight opportunity to clinch a postseason series at home for the first time since the 1906 World Series. Sam Antonacci drove in two runs and Colson Montgomery had two hits.

“Obviously, to do it here would be special,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “But we knew this was going to be a grind, and I don’t think that there was added pressure with our players to play any differently than we’ve played the whole season.”

Expert bullpen management, a White Sox specialty to begin the playoffs, unraveled in the Guardians’ decisive six-run sixth inning. Cleveland sent 10 to the plate against three pitchers, with eight straight reaching base via five hits, two walks and a hit batter.

“I just can’t applaud our guys enough for our at-bats there,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said.

Bailey delivered a go-ahead single, and Jo Adell soon lined an opposite-field, two-run single to right against Grant Taylor to put Cleveland ahead 9-4.

Taylor, who earned four-inning and 1⅓-inning saves in Games 1 and 2, didn’t retire a batter in Game 4. He yielded four runs and four hits while walking two. The pitcher he replaced, Anthony Kay (1-1), allowed two runs and one hit in one-third of an inning.

Miguel Vargas hit a solo home run against Guardians closer Cade Smith to lead off the ninth. Smith walked Munetaka Murakami before exiting for Gavin Williams, Cleveland’s presumptive Game 5 starter.

Williams worked around a single to record the final three outs. Braden Montgomery lined to left field with two runners on to end the game.

“There’s some small win in making Cade work and getting Gavin into the game, as well,” Venable said.

Ramirez had three RBIs, Bailey added two and Nathaniel Lowe had two hits for the Guardians. Erik Sabrowski (1-1) pitched an inning of scoreless relief for the victory.

Chicago jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the third. Murakami worked a bases-loaded walk against Guardians rookie left-hander Parker Messick before Antonacci lined a pinch-hit RBI sacrifice fly to right field off Shawn Armstrong.

A pair of fifth-inning homers jump-started the Guardians. Bailey connected against Erick Fedde for a leadoff shot. Jordan Hicks entered the game later in the inning, and Ramirez sent his second pitch into the right field bullpen for a two-run blast and a 3-2 advantage.

Chicago responded with two runs in the bottom of the fifth. Antonacci was hit by a pitch to force in a run before Brenton Doyle’s sacrifice fly to right put the White Sox ahead 4-3.

The White Sox stranded 12 runners compared to seven for the Guardians.