Twice the Guardians stood on the brink of elimination and twice they refused to close their eyes.
Along the way, Cleveland responded in front of a loud and hostile crowd at Rate Field by recalling what it excels at: Guardsball.
In a back-and-forth affair, the Guardians stayed tough and passed the baton all night despite a sudden short outing from their ace, needing a total of eight hits to force the AL Division Series back to Cleveland.
The series is now tied 2-2 and it will all come down to Game 5 Saturday night at Progressive Field. The winner will play a well-rested and dominant Tampa Bay Rays in the AL Championship Series. The losers will have a long winter ahead of them to mull over all that went wrong.
It may not be Game 7, but Saturday’s Game 5 will, no doubt, be just as nerve-wracking.
Here are my picks from Game 4:
The White Sox were reeling from a painful fifth inning that saw the Guardians hit two home runs to take the lead, one by shortstop Patrick Bailey and the other, a two-run shot, by de facto team captain José Ramírez.
Although Chicago took the lead in the bottom of the fifth, the Guardians offense was just getting started.
Cleveland saw three Chicago relievers in the massive top of the sixth inning, which changed the face of the game and kept its season going. The total lack of command that plagued both teams Thursday sparked a Guardians comeback when left-hander Anthony Kay hit Angel Martinez with a pitch.
Smelling blood, Cleveland kept going. Second baseman Travis Bazzana collected an RBI double to tie the game at 4-4.
White Sox right-hander Grant Taylor then homered in relief of Kay. But Taylor, in his fourth relief appearance of the postseason, struggled to record outs. He gave up an RBI single to Bailey, a walk to Brayan Rocchio and center fielder Steven Kwan, and a pair of singles to Ramírez and right fielder Chase DeLauter to give the Guardians a 7-4 lead.
José Ramírez scored the Guardians’ sixth goal of the sixth game, which put them in control of Game 4. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
With the bases loaded, Cleveland’s trade deadline acquisition and designated hitter Jo Adell led off with a bases-loaded, two-run single to right, ending Taylor’s night before he could record a single.
By the time the inning ended, the Guardians had turned a 4-3 deficit into a 9-4 lead. It was exactly the kind of steady, no-panic approach at the plate that Cleveland relied on all year to reach the AL Central.
Passing the baton is how the Guardians got to this point. They’ll need more of that in Saturday’s Game 5 in order to advance to the ALCS.
2.
Rangers left-hander Parker Messick was the best starting pitcher in baseball this year. But you wouldn’t know it from his erratic start against the White Sox on Thursday.
Messick lasted just 2 1/3 in 65 grueling pitches in Game 4 on a fast-paced pitch. He walked four of the 13 batters he faced, with the last walk of the night coming with the bases loaded, which allowed the White Sox to get on the board and take the lead in the third inning. After giving up two earned runs in 4 ⅓ innings in Game 1 of the ALDS, Messick was on normal rest in Game 4, but he never looked as dangerous as he had been all year for the Rangers.
The 25-year-old southpaw had a cup of coffee last season, retained his starting eligibility and followed it up with a 2.56 ERA in 186 innings and 32 starts this season. Messick established himself as a front-line starter and was one of the reasons this Guardians team entered October believing it had the talent to go all the way.
Messick was in the 81st percentile with his walk rate (6.6%) in his rookie season, ranking among the top 16 starters in the league in preventing turnovers. He actually walked fewer batters each month of the regular season, walking four hitters just once in a single game this year. So it was highly unusual for Messick to lose his command like he did in Game 4.
It’s fair to wonder how much pressure, crowd noise, his offseason workload, or all of the above played into his sideline exit Thursday. Backed at a corner, Messick just wasn’t the same pitcher the Rangers relied on all season, and it had an unfortunate ripple effect.
In all, the White Sox and Guardians combined for 15 walks Thursday.
Miguel Vargas had three of the White Sox’s eight walks against the Guardians on Thursday night. (Geoff Stellfox/Getty Images)
3.
The White Sox relievers were taxed, and it showed. Chicago has used 14 shots over the last 18 innings, with no starter going past the fourth inning in either of the last two games.
In Game 1, left-handed starter Hagen Smith lasted just 2 2/3 innings, though he kept a clean sheet. In Game 2, southpaw Anthony Kay recorded just one out as a starter before giving up the ball. In Game 3, another left-handed starter, Sean Newcomb, pitched just two innings before the Cavaliers exited the lineup.
Finally, in Thursday’s Game 4, Smith recorded just two outs before seeing his manager, Will Venable, leave the dugout to give the ball to the pitcher.
Using so many arms in a short series is usually not a recipe for success.
The Guardians have seen the same White Sox arms multiple times in the same game to get pinned by the runs scored. It’s one thing if all those relievers came out of the ballpark shooting sharpies. But their command was too problematic for Chicago’s strategy to work. Rest is very important for relievers, and the White Sox can’t find length from any of their starters. Friday’s off day can’t come soon enough for the Sox.
Grant Taylor (left) struggled, which was part of the reason White Sox manager Will Venable had to get so deep into his armpit. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
3 ½. What’s next?
Since Cleveland’s Game 2 starter, right-hander Gavin Williams, ended up throwing 18 pitches and securing the final out of Game 4 on Thursday, he is unlikely to start Saturday’s key game.
Neither team has announced their starters for Game 5 since Thursday’s finale, but we can expect every pitcher to be available in the finale against the winners in Cleveland on Saturday night.
