CLEVELAND — The Chicago White Sox refused to trail for long. Braden Montgomery lined a go-ahead two-run double down the right-field line in the sixth inning, and Chicago rallied past the Cleveland Guardians 4-3 in White Sox Guardians ALDS Game 2 on Monday at Progressive Field. The win gives the White Sox a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five American League Division Series and moves them within one victory of their first American League Championship Series appearance since winning the 2005 World Series.
The White Sox have now won all four of their postseason games — every one of them on the road — after claiming the league’s final wild-card berth, according to Reuters.
White Sox Guardians ALDS Game 2: The Sixth-Inning Rally
Trailing 2-1, Chicago broke through against Cleveland’s bullpen in the sixth. Miguel Vargas led off with a base hit to chase Guardians starter Gavin Williams, moved up on a groundout, and Randal Grichuk drew a walk. A wild pitch by Erik Sabrowski (0-1) with Tommy Pham at the plate moved the runners to second and third, and after Pham flied out to shallow left, Montgomery jumped on a first-pitch fastball.
His two-out, opposite-field double landed just inside the foul line in right, driving in Vargas and Grichuk to give Chicago its first lead of the game at 3-2. It was the first postseason extra-base hit of the 23-year-old rookie’s career, and Montgomery slid into second and let out a yell as the Cleveland crowd went quiet.
Sabrowski was lifted for Hunter Gaddis, who fared no better: Chase Meidroth followed with an opposite-field RBI single that plated Montgomery to extend the lead to 4-2.
“That guy just hits. He’s always coming up big for us,” White Sox catcher Kyle Teel said of Montgomery, according to MLB via theScore.
Chicago had gotten on the board in the fourth, when Munetaka Murakami lined a sharp single to right that scored Kyle Teel, cutting Cleveland’s lead to 2-1. Teel had led off the inning with a single — the first hit off Williams all afternoon.
White Sox Guardians ALDS Game 2: Burke and Taylor Slam the Door
Sean Burke (1-0) was the engine of Chicago’s comeback. The right-hander entered with one out in the third and pitched 5 1/3 innings of one-run, one-hit relief for the win, retiring 13 straight batters from the fourth to the eighth. He struck out six and threw 83 pitches, 53 of them for strikes, per the Associated Press.
It was a near-perfect bulk-relief outing, and it followed a chaotic start to the game. Opener Anthony Kay faced just three batters, and reliever Sean Newcomb was the one charged with the first-inning trouble: after Kay allowed a leadoff single to Steven Kwan and a walk to José Ramírez, Newcomb intentionally walked Jo Adell to load the bases and then fielded a high chopper from Nathaniel Lowe — only to throw wide of first base. Kwan and Ramírez scored on the error for a 2-0 Cleveland lead.
It was the first time in four postseason games the White Sox had trailed, according to the Associated Press — and it did not last. The pitching staff that blanked Cleveland in Game 1, when Chicago shut out the Guardians behind Murakami, combined for a four-hitter on Monday.
Cleveland made things interesting late. After Chase DeLauter chased Burke with a two-out single in the eighth, Grant Taylor entered and gave up an RBI triple to Adell on his first pitch — a ball that traveled high off the center-field wall — pulling the Guardians within 4-3. But Taylor, earning his second save of the series, stranded Adell at third and retired the side in the ninth, with the final out coming when Patrick Bailey drove a ball to centerfield that Brenton Doyle ran down at the wall.
Williams’ 11 Strikeouts Go to Waste for Cleveland
Guardians starter Gavin Williams deserved a better fate. The right-hander struck out a career postseason-high 11 over five-plus innings, falling one short of Charles Nagy’s franchise strikeout record set in the 1996 ALDS against Baltimore. Williams hit 100 mph on 18 of his 98 pitches — including eight times in the first two innings, doubling his previous career high for a game — and owned the 37 fastest pitches of the contest when he departed after Vargas’ leadoff single in the sixth, according to Reuters.
Williams, who led the American League with 248 strikeouts this season, exited to a standing ovation having handed his bullpen a 2-1 lead. The bullpen could not hold it. Cleveland has now been held to three runs on seven hits across the first two games of the series.
White Sox Guardians ALDS Game 2 Sets Up a Clincher at Home
The series now shifts to Chicago for Game 3 on Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET at Rate Field, airing on TBS. The White Sox have not played at home since Sept. 27 and will return as conquering heroes of a road trip that has included a wild-card sweep of the Houston Astros and two wins in Cleveland. One more victory sends Chicago to the ALCS for the first time since its championship season of 2005.
It is a stunning turnaround for a franchise that became the first team to reach the postseason after three consecutive 100-loss seasons, including a post-1900 record 121 defeats in 2024, per the Associated Press. Cleveland, the AL Central champion, now needs to win three straight — starting with Wednesday’s must-win at Rate Field — to keep its season alive. If a Game 5 is needed, it would be played Saturday in Cleveland.
“It’s going to be electric,” Teel said of Wednesday’s home crowd, according to MLB via theScore. “We have some great fans, some electric fans, and it’s going to be loud.”
FAQ
What was the final score of White Sox Guardians ALDS Game 2?
The Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Guardians 4-3 on Monday, Oct. 5, at Progressive Field in Cleveland. Chicago rallied from a 2-1 deficit with three runs in the sixth inning.
Who drove in the go-ahead runs in White Sox Guardians ALDS Game 2?
Rookie Braden Montgomery hit a two-run, opposite-field double off Erik Sabrowski in the sixth inning that scored Miguel Vargas and Randal Grichuk and gave Chicago a 3-2 lead. Chase Meidroth followed with an RBI single to make it 4-2.
When is ALDS Game 3 between the White Sox and Guardians?
Game 3 is Wednesday, Oct. 7, at 4 p.m. ET at Rate Field in Chicago, airing on TBS. The White Sox can clinch the series — and their first ALCS trip since 2005 — with a win. Game 4 (if necessary) would be Thursday in Chicago, and Game 5 (if necessary) Saturday in Cleveland.
What is the White Sox’s postseason record now?
Chicago improved to 4-0 this postseason after claiming the league’s final wild-card berth — all four wins coming on the road. Cleveland has been held to just three runs on seven hits across the two ALDS games.
Sources: Reuters (Oct 6); Associated Press (Oct 6); USA Today (Oct 5); theScore (Oct 5).
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