CHICAGO -- The American League Division Series champagne will stay on ice for at least one more day for the White Sox.
And the frenzied group of White Sox fans totaling 40,590 at Rate Field will get another chance to celebrate on Thursday.
A White Sox home playoff series-clinching victory for the first time since 1906 and just the second time in franchise history was tabled via a 9-3 Cleveland victory. The White Sox still hold a 2-1 series lead and can lock things down and advance to the League Championship Series with a home victory in Game 4.
Seven Cleveland pitchers combined to strike out 19, including eight of the last nine outs, setting a postseason record for a nine-inning contest. Six White Sox pitchers walked 10 in total. That combination won’t lead to many victories.
But this team has bounced back all season from tough setbacks, tough stretches. After winning four straight playoff games, they are confident another streak can start Thursday.
“We've done it all year,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “We've been in tough spots where we haven't played our best game [and] drop a couple of games. It's all about just coming back the next day. It's really kind of been the story of our year with the guys being able to bounce back no matter what.”
“Just a quiet confidence we have had over the last 15 games. We’ve been playing really, really good baseball," said right-hander Davis Martin, who allowed two runs in the ninth during his playoff debut. "So nothing changes. Continue to do what we need to do, play our brand of baseball.”
After the White Sox took a 1-0 lead on Kyle Teel’s double in the first, the Guardians rallied for four runs in the third off of Bryan Hudson and Hagen Smith. The two combined to walk three in the inning and Jo Adell delivered the decisive hit -- a bases-clearing triple just inside the first-base line.
In the fifth, the White Sox had runners on second and third with one out when Teel hit a line drive to Travis Bazzana. The Cleveland second baseman caught the ball and doubled off Miguel Vargas at second base to end the threat.
“I was trying to score that play,” Vargas said. “Probably a little bit emotional out there, trying to be so aggressive, trying to score.”
Cleveland held a 5-2 advantage in the sixth when the White Sox rallied with two outs. Joey Cantillo walked Braden Montgomery, bringing Hunter Gaddis into the game. Gaddis allowed a single to Randal Grichuk and hit Colson Montgomery and Sam Antonacci with pitches.
Antonacci’s bases-loaded hit-by-pitch became the first run-scoring hit-by-pitch for the White Sox in postseason history (since 1920). Gaddis then worked the count full with the bases loaded against Vargas, who hit a hard line drive between third and shortstop that was snared by José Ramírez to end the inning.
Ramírez's two-run triple in the eighth helped put the game away. Rookies Noah Schultz and Tyler Davis joined Martin in making their playoff debuts, while David Sandlin also threw an inning. Venable named Smith as the opener for Game 4, but pitchers such as Erick Fedde, Jordan Hicks and Grant Taylor are rested and ready to pitch, too.
They also have a decided home-field advantage. Fans were packing the ballpark and showing a level of excitement above electric long before the Jersey Girls turned in a rousing rendition of the national anthem and Belmont Cameli was revealed as the surprise first-pitch honoree.
Fans were dressed in black to support the Blackout ballpark theme and even went crazy when Teel and starter Sean Newcomb walked to the bullpen to get ready before the game.
“Our game time was in 30 minutes. I’ve never seen that. Fans were awesome. They are always awesome,” Teel said. “They were loud. No doubt it was the loudest I’ve ever played in front of.”
“If I’m being real honest, I was a little emotional at the national anthem,” said Martin, the longest tenured player on the roster by White Sox service time. “Seeing it all and experiencing what we went through in ’24, just to get back to this point was unbelievable. It was awesome.”
Parker Messick gets the call Thursday for Cleveland, with Gavin Williams lined up for a possible Game 5 back in Cleveland Saturday. The White Sox goal is to pop that champagne on Thursday in Chicago and get ready for the Rays, who eliminated the Yankees on Wednesday night.
“Today is over with,” Teel said. “All that matters is tomorrow now, so throw this one out and get ready to go.”