Pope Leo XIV was looking over the Chicago White Sox pitching staff on Saturday afternoon.
The White Sox beat the Cleveland Guardians 3-0 at Progressive Field to take Game 1 of the ALDS. White Sox manager Will Venable deployed a bullpen game to begin the series, and his pitching staff was fantastic.
Grant Taylor led the way with a Herculean effort, pitching the final four innings of the game in the longest outing of his career and earning a rare four-inning save. It was the first four-inning save in a postseason game since Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. accomplished the feat in 2017 against the New York Yankees in the ALCS.
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In four innings, Taylor struck out six hitters and yielded just two hits. It was a rare game where the pitcher who finished the game for the winning team pitched more innings than the starter.
Hagen Smith was the opener for the White Sox, and he was cruising until he wasn’t. After retiring the first eight batters he faced, he walked three consecutive batters to load the bases.
Venable had seen enough from Smith and turned the ball over to lefty Bryan Hudson to face left-handed hitter Chase DeLauter. Hudson escaped the jam by inducing a weak flyout from DeLauter to keep the game scoreless through three innings.
However, two batters later, the game was no longer scoreless. White Sox third baseman Miguel Vargas led off the top of the fourth inning with a line-drive single to left field, and first baseman Munetaka Murakami followed with the first postseason home run of his career.
The Japanese star turned on Parker Messick’s 93-mph fastball and crushed it 440 feet into the right-field seats, giving the White Sox a 2-0 lead. Vargas and Murakami were the first two White Sox baserunners against Messick in the game.
The Guardians threatened again in the fourth inning. Venable brought in Jordan Hicks to begin the inning, and Hicks retired the first two batters he faced before walking Nathaniel Lowe.
Venable then went to the bullpen again, bringing in lefty Anthony Kay with a runner on first and two outs to face left-handed hitter Travis Bazzana.
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However, Kay immediately got into further trouble. Bazzana ripped a double down the line, and Kay then walked catcher Austin Hedges to load the bases.
Despite raising the blood pressure of White Sox fans, Kay escaped the inning unscathed, preserving the 2-0 lead by getting shortstop Bryan Rocchio to fly out to right field to end the threat.
The White Sox chased Messick in the top of the fifth inning after Colson Montgomery’s single. Messick struck out six hitters while yielding two runs on four hits and two walks in 4 1/3 innings of work.
Guardians manager Stephen Vogt turned to Daniel Espino with one out and a runner on first to try to keep the deficit at two, and it worked beautifully as second baseman Chase Meidroth grounded into a double play to end the top of the fifth inning.
Kay stayed in for the bottom of the fifth inning and shut down the top of the Guardians’ order with a 1-2-3 inning.
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The White Sox threatened in the top of the sixth inning after Tristan Peters singled and Vargas walked. Vogt pulled Espino from the game and brought in Erik Sabrowski.
With runners on first and second and no outs, Sabrowski struck out Murakami for the first out of the inning and then induced an unconventional double play. Tommy Pham hit a deep fly ball to left field, and left fielder Ángel Martínez leaped at the wall to make a fantastic catch before the ball reached the outfield wall.
Martínez then fired the ball back to first base to double off Vargas, who was well off the bag anticipating an extra-base hit. The White Sox challenged the call, believing the ball hit the outfield wall before Martínez caught it, but the call stood.
Venable then turned to his bullpen for what ended up being the final time, bringing in Taylor, who worked a scoreless bottom of the sixth inning.
In the top of the seventh inning, the White Sox added a key insurance run. Shortstop Colson Montgomery was at the plate with catcher Kyle Teel, who had walked earlier in the inning, on first base with two outs. With left-handed pull hitter Montgomery at the plate, the Guardians’ defense was shaded toward the first-base side of the infield.
Montgomery then hit it where the defenders weren’t, hitting a weak ground ball at just 64 mph off the bat down the third-base line. Teel, who isn’t fleet of foot, scored from first base on Montgomery’s cue shot. It was a close play at the plate, but Hedges couldn’t corral Martínez’s throw from left field, giving the White Sox a 3-0 lead.
Venable left Taylor in for a second inning of work in the bottom of the seventh, and the right-hander once again pitched a scoreless frame, frustrating the raucous Guardians crowd.
After Guardians reliever Tim Herrin kept the White Sox off the board in the top of the eighth inning, Taylor did the same with an efficient bottom half.
Vogt brought in closer Cade Smith in the ninth inning to keep the deficit at three, which he did. Vogt used his top bullpen arms to keep the game close, but it didn’t matter, as the Guardians’ offense was held scoreless. The Guardians had just three hits and drew five walks in the loss.
The White Sox will look to take another game on the road on Sunday at 5 p.m. ET, while the Guardians look to even the series.
