Monday, October 5, 2026 — the team nobody picked is one win from the American League Championship Series.
The White Sox beat the Guardians 4-3 in Cleveland on Monday to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five ALDS. They are now 4-0 this postseason, every win on the road, and one victory from their first ALCS since the 2005 championship season.
The Comeback
For the first time this October, Chicago trailed. Cleveland scored twice in the first, with José Ramírez coming home on an error by Sean Newcomb. Munetaka Murakami’s RBI single in the fourth cut the gap to one.
The sixth inning flipped the game. Miguel Vargas singled, Randal Grichuk walked, and an Erik Sabrowski wild pitch put both in scoring position. Braden Montgomery then lined a two-run double down the right-field line for the lead, and Chase Meidroth’s single scored Montgomery for a 4-2 cushion.
Jo Adell’s RBI triple in the eighth brought Cleveland within one, but Grant Taylor finished it with 1⅓ innings for his second straight save.
Burke and Williams
The pitching hero was Sean Burke. Entering after opener Anthony Kay, he threw 5⅓ innings of one-hit relief with six strikeouts on 83 pitches.
Cleveland’s Gavin Williams was excellent in defeat, striking out 11 in five-plus innings — including five in a row, a first for a Guardians pitcher in a postseason game. It wasn’t enough, and the Guardians have now scored three runs in two home games.
A City Waiting
Game 3 is Wednesday afternoon in Chicago. A win would give the White Sox their first postseason series clinched at home since 1906. Taylor put it plainly: fans have been waiting a long time, so maybe this is the year.
Stephen Vogt insisted his team plays best with its back against the wall. It will have to prove it by winning three straight, starting with two in Chicago.
The Read
Two years after 121 losses, the White Sox have gone into Houston and Cleveland and won all four games. Whatever the odds said in March, this team now controls the series and is one game from playing for a pennant.
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