Guardians Stun White Sox 9-5, Force Winner-Take-All ALDS Game 5

The Cleveland Guardians refused to go quietly in Chicago. Facing elimination on Thursday night, they beat the White Sox 9-5 in Game 4 of the American League Division Series, forcing a winner-take-all Game 5 on Saturday at Progressive Field, MLB.com and ESPN reported.

Cleveland arrived at Rate Field down 2-0 in the best-of-five and won Game 3 by a 9-3 score before staging another comeback in Game 4. José Ramírez, speaking through a club interpreter, told ESPN the club’s approach is simple: “Try to always compete. Don’t quit in any game. What this team is doing is only what we know how to do.”

The Guardians trailed 2-0 through four innings with just one hit, according to MLB.com’s Tim Stebbins. They flipped the lead in the fifth on home runs from Patrick Bailey, who started the night on the bench and entered as a pinch hitter, and Ramírez. Chicago answered to go back ahead 4-3 in the bottom of the fifth, but Cleveland sent 10 batters to the plate in the sixth and scored six runs.

Angel Martínez sparked the sixth-inning rally with a hit-by-pitch and a stolen base, then scored on a Travis Bazzana double that fell just beyond diving right fielder Braden Montgomery, MLB.com reported. Grant Taylor, Chicago’s heavily used relief ace who had recorded a four-inning save in Game 1, did not retire any of the six batters he faced and was charged with four runs. Bailey singled, Brayan Rocchio and Steven Kwan walked, and Ramírez, Chase DeLauter and Jo Adell singled as the Guardians poured it on.

Both managers burned through 15 pitchers over nine innings, ESPN’s Bradford Doolittle wrote. Cleveland got only 2⅓ innings from rookie starter Parker Messick — the shortest start of his career — then used six relievers before manager Stephen Vogt turned to probable Game 5 starter Gavin Williams for the final three outs. “The script tonight got ripped up in the third,” Vogt said, according to ESPN. “And when you have to go to the bullpen early, you’ve got to get creative in a win-or-go-home game.”

Rate Field drew 39,920 fans clad mostly in black, hoping to see the White Sox clinch a postseason series at home for the first time since Oct. 14, 1906, ESPN noted. Over the two Chicago games, Guardians pitchers recorded 31 strikeouts to the White Sox’s nine, while Cleveland hitters drew 17 walks. White Sox manager Will Venable said Cleveland’s hitters were “making really good swing decisions” and that walks were punished.

Game 5 is scheduled for Saturday at 8 p.m. ET on TBS, truTV, UniMás and HBO Max, MLB.com reported. The winner advances to the American League Championship Series against the Tampa Bay Rays, who swept the New York Yankees earlier in the week. Of the 18 previous teams that fell behind 0-2 in a best-of-five before winning the next two, 10 went on to win Game 5, MLB.com said. Find more playoff coverage on our Sports page.

Verification: Final score, sixth-inning sequence, Bailey pinch-hit context, Williams closing, attendance and Game 5 broadcast window are from MLB.com (Tim Stebbins, Oct. 9). Ramírez quotes, dual comebacks, 15 pitchers used, strikeout/walk splits and Venable comments are from ESPN (Bradford Doolittle, Oct. 9).