Munetaka Murakami and Grant Taylor power White Sox to ALDS Game 1 victory over Guardians

The Chicago White Sox have done it again. After a 2-0 series sweep over the Houston Astros in the Wild Card Round, the White Sox headed to Cleveland for a date with the division-rival Guardians in the ALDS. With Guardians rookie ace Parker Messick taking the hill in Game 1, and the White Sox going with a bullpen game, the unit that had a large part in bringing the White Sox this far would need to be at their best once again. 

The White Sox got a pair of baserunners against Messick in the first after a Miguel Vargas walk and a Munetaka Murakami single, but Tommy Pham went down swinging to erase the threat. Hagen Smith made his second start of the Postseason for the White Sox, retiring the first six Cleveland hitters in order. After Hagen Smith ran into trouble, walking the bases loaded in a scoreless game in the third, lefty Bryan Hudson got Guardians outfielder Chase DeLauter to fly out to left to end the threat and strand the bases loaded. 

The White Sox offense came alive in the top of the fourth. Miguel Vargas singled to lead off the inning against Parker Messick, and Munetaka Murakami followed with a 440-foot blast to give Chicago a 2-0 lead. Jordan Hicks entered the ballgame in the bottom of the fourth, striking out Jo Adell and Angel Martinez before allowing a two-out walk to Nathaniel Lowe. Will Venable turned to Anthony Kay, who promptly allowed a double to Travis Bazzana and walked Austin Hedges to load the bases for Bryan Rocchio. Just like in the inning before, Rocchio flew out to end the threat, stranding the bases loaded for the second-straight inning. 

The White Sox seemed to have more brewing in the top of the 6th. Tristan Peters led off the inning with a pinch-hit infield single, and Miguel Vargas worked a walk. The Guardians turned to lefty Erik Sabrowski, who promptly struck out Murakami. Tommy Pham smoked a fly ball that he thought was going to make it a 5-0 game, but died just in time for Angel Martinez to catch it at the wall. Miguel Vargas evidently thought it was going out too, because he was caught way off first base for an easy double play, ending the threat. Seeking to take back some momentum, Will Venable put closer Grant Taylor into the game in the sixth inning. Taylor allowed a two-out double to Nathaniel Lowe but worked an otherwise clean inning. 

A one-out walk by Kyle Teel in the seventh came around to score on a Colson Montgomery double down the left field line. The throw appeared to beat Teel to the plate, but his slide knocked the ball out of Austin Hedges’ glove, and the White Sox’ lead grew to 3-0. Grant Taylor cruised through the seventh and eight innings and came back out for the ninth at 31 pitches. He struck out the side, finishing the day with six strikeouts and a four-inning save. 

White Sox head into Monday's Game 2 with all the momentum in the ALDS

The Sox and Guardians will have Sunday off as the NL games take center stage, but will be back in action for Game 2 on Monday evening. Gavin Williams will start for the Guardians, and the White Sox have not yet announced who will be on the mound for them. Davis Martin has yet to appear in a Postseason game and could be called upon, but the Sox could also go with Sean Burke on regular rest. Regardless, they have enough multi-inning arms that most are available to be called on in just about any situation, and Will Venable has pulled all the right strings so far. 

The series is far from over and there’s still work to be done, but in the 160 times in baseball history there has been a Best-of-5 playoff series, the team that took Game 1 has gone on to win the series 73% of the time. For the White Sox to go into Cleveland and steal Game 1 from the Guardians is huge. They’ve also guaranteed a second home Postseason game, whether it’s in the ALDS or the ALCS. 

The White Sox will enjoy their off-day Sunday and look to keep the momentum rolling on Monday and continue their improbable playoff run.

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