These pesky young Chicago White Sox don't seem satisfied with a wild-card sweep.
Two days after winning their first playoff series in 21 years, the South Siders stormed into Cleveland and stunned the Guardians with a 3-0 shutout win at Progressive Field to take a 1-0 lead in their ALDS.
Rookie slugger Munetaka Murakami's two-run homer in the fourth inning off Guardians ace Parker Messick gave Chicago all the runs it needed. The White Sox, making their first postseason appearance since 2021, have yet to trail in these playoffs.
"This is the reason why (I signed with the White Sox)," Murakami said postgame. "As a team, the White Sox coming in as the postseason, winning the (wild-card) series, and then coming here in Cleveland, this is what I wanted to accomplish before I signed, and that's what I'm doing now. So this is pretty much everything."
Five White Sox pitchers, starting with opener Hagen Smith, combined for 12 strikeouts and limited Cleveland to three hits. Grant Taylor was dominant again, notching a four-inning save while striking out six - including the final three batters of the game - and walking none. Taylor, who tossed 2 1/3 scoreless frames to finish Chicago's Game 1 win against Houston, is the first pitcher to record a save of four-plus innings in the postseason since the Astros' Lance McCullers Jr. in Game 7 of the 2017 World Series, per Stathead.
"We're going into that one not expecting four innings from him, but he was so efficient, kept going, wanting the ball in the ninth there," White Sox manager Will Venable said of Taylor. "Just weren't comfortable with the cushion there to go elsewhere. But he wanted the ball and he was efficient. So we went ahead and threw him out there.
"I don't know what else to say about him. He's a beast out there."
The Guardians weren't without their opportunities Saturday. Cleveland loaded the bases in the bottom of the third, drawing three straight walks against Smith after he suddenly lost control of the strike zone. Left-hander Bryan Hudson relieved Smith with the bases full and two out and immediately got Chase DeLauter to fly out, ending the threat. That set the stage for Murakami's homer two batters into the top of the fourth.
The Guardians again loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the fourth against Jordan Hicks but squandered that opportunity as well when Brayan Rocchio flew out to end the frame. Another potential rally in the seventh was squashed when Steven Kwan grounded into an inning-ending double play. All told, Cleveland left seven runners on base.
"Of course you're frustrated when you get shut out, but I thought our guys fought and battled. With how well they threw, we were getting on base," Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. "Like I said, we just couldn't get it going early in the inning to get some action going, but credit to our guys for continuing to get on base and a couple of good pieces of hitting with the bases loaded. Just didn't get down."
Messick, a likely AL Rookie of the Year finalist and potential Cy Young candidate, was solid outside of allowing Murakami's homer. The 25-year-old southpaw struck out six in his postseason debut and allowed fewer than three runs in his 16th straight start dating back to early July. However, he failed to get out of the fifth inning for just the third time this year.
"I thought Parker threw the ball excellent. They made him work. They kind of got his pitch count up," Vogt said. "... I thought Parker threw the ball excellent, did his job, kept us in the game. And yeah, just weren't able to get anything going, but Parker was outstanding.
The White Sox - the first team in MLB history to reach the playoffs after consecutive 100-loss seasons - held down first place in the AL Central for much of the second half until Cleveland caught them in the final week to claim the division title and the AL's No. 2 seed. However, Chicago went 7-6 against its longtime rivals during the regular season.
Game 2 of the best-of-five series goes Monday in Cleveland. Gavin Williams, the AL strikeout leader, will start for the Guardians. The White Sox did not name a starter, although Venable said that right-hander Sean Burke will "play a big role" in their plans.
