CLEVELAND — The Chicago White Sox used a major league-leading 11 bullpen games en route to their first postseason appearance since 2021.
Manager Will Venable also went with it ito win Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series. starting a sweep at Houston.
The formula ended up paying dividends again on Saturday in an AL Division Series opener against Cleveland.
Five Chicago pitchers combined for a three-hitter and struck out 12, and Munetaka Murakami hit a two-run homer as the White Sox beat the Guardians 3-0.
“You go out and you have a rough plan and then the players have to go out and execute, and then we were able to do that today,” Venable said. “They’re going to take their walks, and they have a dynamic offense. So really important that you have guys pick each other up in these situations, which we saw today.”
Colson Montgomery added an RBI double for the White Sox, who have won nine of 11 games dating to the regular season.
It was the sixth White Sox postseason shutout, their first since the finale of a 2005 World Series sweep of Houston.
Cleveland, which won its third straight AL Central title by one game over the White Sox, had the bases loaded with two outs the third and fourth innings but couldn’t get any runs across.
“Of course you’re frustrated when you get shut out, but I thought our guys fought and battled," Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. "With how well they threw, we were getting on base. We just couldn’t get it going early in the inning,”
Game 2 is Monday afternoon at Progressive Field. The series shifts to Chicago for Game 3 on Wednesday.
Taylor gets first four-inning postseason save since 2017
Bryan Hudson (1-0) relieved starter Hagen Smith and got Chase DeLauter to line out to left with the bases loaded in the third to get out of the inning.
The star of the White Sox staff was Grant Taylor, who became the sixth pitcher in MLB postseason history to work at least four innings and pick up a save, the first since Houston's Lance McCullers Jr. in the 2017 AL Championship Series against the New York Yankees.
“It was some of the best pitching I’ve ever seen. He was hitting his spots left and right and just attacking hitters," Teel said.
Taylor had a career-best six strikeouts and allowed two hits. The right-hander struck out the last four Guardians, including Travis Bazzana on a curveball to end the game.
“We’ve kind of done that the whole year of being able to hand it off to the next guy," Taylor said. "Other guys pitching some positions that aren’t super familiar, but being able to do that in the postseason was unbelievable and you also had that on the defense as well.”
Smith retired the first eight Cleveland hitters before loaded with bases with outs in the third on walks to Brayan Rocchio, Steven Kwan and José Ramírez. Bryan Hudson came in and got Chase DeLauter to line out to left.
Cleveland didn’t get its first hit until Travis Bazzana's line-drive double down the right-field line with two outs in the fourth off Anthony Kay. Austin Hedges drew a walk to load the bases again before Rocchio lined out to right.
“I was definitely in a blender today, getting different looks every time up from a different pitcher," said Guardians designated hitter Jo Adell, who struck out in all four of his at-bats. "We were trying to find it all day. Postseason is a pitcher’s duel and it’s one of those things. We’ve got to bounce back.”
Murakami shifts momentum to White Sox
After Miguel Vargas lined a hit to left leading off the fourth, Murakami drove a first-pitch elevated sinker 440 feet into the right-field stands for his first postseason home run.
The White Sox were feeling momentum starting to go their way coming into the inning after preventing the Guardians from scoring with the bases loaded.
“I really wanted the first run at a very important game, so I’m just really happy that I got one,” Murakami said through an interpreter.
Cleveland starter Parker Messick (0-1) allowed two runs and four hits in 4 1/3 innings. The rookie left-hander struck out six and walked two.
White Sox add to lead in the seventh
Montgomery extended the advantage to 3-0 in the seventh with a double down the left-field line to drive in Kyle Teel. It appeared as if Teel would be thrown out at the plate by Angel Martínez, but Hedges couldn't hang on to the throw after Teel's slide.
“That’s why I slid in just straight into the bag, because I know as a catcher myself, it’s really hard when a guy slides straight in because you got to pull on the ball," Teel said.
Up next
Cleveland RHP Gavin Williams (14-8, 3.76 ERA) gets the call for Game 2. Chicago has not announced a starter, but RHP Sean Burke is expected to pitch the bulk of the innings. Burke allowed three runs in four innings against Houston on Wednesday.
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