Munetaka Murakami turned on a fourth-inning fastball and sent it 440 feet into the right-field stands, and five Chicago pitchers made the lead hold up. The Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Guardians 3-0 on Saturday in White Sox Guardians ALDS Game 1 at Progressive Field, taking a 1-0 lead in the American League Division Series on the road, according to Reuters.
The win continues a remarkable October for the Cinderella White Sox. Chicago has now won nine of its last 11 games dating back to the regular season, and the shutout was the franchise’s sixth in postseason history — its first since the finale of the 2005 World Series sweep of the Houston Astros.
Murakami’s 440-foot blast breaks it open in White Sox Guardians ALDS Game 1
Miguel Vargas singled to lead off the fourth inning, and Murakami followed by ambushing an All-Star Parker Messick offering for a two-run homer — his first postseason home run — that put Chicago ahead 2-0, according to Reuters. The Japanese rookie first baseman, who signed a $34 million two-year deal with the White Sox in December (plus a $6,575,000 posting fee to the Yakult Swallows), crushed 35 homers with 75 RBIs in the regular season but had gone 1-for-8 in the wild-card sweep of Houston.
“That’s what playoff baseball is about, is your big dogs going out there and making big plays,” White Sox manager Will Venable said, according to the Associated Press. “Obviously a huge swing.”
Guardians catcher Austin Hedges paid the 26-year-old the highest compliment after the game. “He’s just a stud,” Hedges said, per MLB.com via Athlon. “He can hit a home run in every pitch in every spot.”
Chicago added insurance in the seventh when Colson Montgomery doubled in a run off Erik Sabrowski to make it 3-0, according to Reuters.
Five White Sox pitchers combine for a three-hitter in ALDS Game 1
Chicago’s bullpen game worked to perfection. Rookie Hagen Smith opened with 2⅔ scoreless innings but walked the bases loaded in the third; Bryan Hudson escaped the jam to earn the win. The Guardians loaded the bases with two outs in the fourth as well — and still couldn’t score. Cleveland was hitless until Travis Bazzana’s fourth-inning double, according to the AP.
The final four innings belonged to closer Grant Taylor, who struck out six to earn the save — becoming just the sixth pitcher in MLB postseason history to work at least four innings for a save, and the first since Houston’s Lance McCullers Jr. in the 2017 ALCS, according to the AP via Bastille Post.
A familiar script: White Sox pitching keeps rolling
The result is a continuation of the formula that got Chicago here. After sweeping the Astros in the wild-card round, the White Sox drew the AL Central champion Guardians — 85-77 and fresh off a first-round bye, compared to Chicago’s 84-78 regular-season record — and beat them at their own game: pitching and one big swing.
It is also a study in October momentum. The Guardians, rested after the bye, managed just three hits and stranded their biggest chances in the middle innings. Cleveland loaded the bases with two outs in both the third and the fourth — six consecutive high-leverage failures at the plate — and that sequence will haunt the home clubhouse if the series slips away. The White Sox, meanwhile, keep playing like a team with nothing to lose, which for the rest of this series is the most dangerous thing about them.
Grant Taylor’s four-inning save belongs in that conversation too. Only five pitchers in baseball history had ever recorded a postseason save of at least four innings before Taylor joined the club, and the most recent was Houston’s Lance McCullers Jr. in the 2017 ALCS — a name Guardians fans remember all too well. Six strikeouts over four frames is not just relief work; it’s a starter’s outing delivered under the brightest lights of October.
Cleveland now faces the classic ALDS predicament: drop Game 2 at home and head to Chicago down 2-0. Game 2 is scheduled for Monday at 1 p.m. ET at Progressive Field, with Games 3 and 4 moving to Chicago, according to USA Today. For the Guardians, the missed chances will sting. For the White Sox, Murakami’s 440-foot statement is the kind of swing that announces a star on the biggest stage — and the kind of moment that can carry a Cinderella all the way through October.
FAQ
What was the score of White Sox Guardians ALDS Game 1?
The Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Guardians 3-0 on Saturday, Oct. 3 at Progressive Field, taking a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five AL Division Series.
Who hit the home run for the White Sox in ALDS Game 1?
Rookie first baseman Munetaka Murakami hit a two-run, 440-foot home run off All-Star Parker Messick in the fourth inning — his first career postseason home run. Colson Montgomery added an RBI double in the seventh.
How did the White Sox pitching fare in Game 1?
Five Chicago pitchers combined for a three-hitter with 12 strikeouts. Bryan Hudson earned the win by escaping a bases-loaded jam in the third, and closer Grant Taylor struck out six over the final four innings for the save — the first four-plus-inning postseason save since Lance McCullers Jr. in the 2017 ALCS.
When is White Sox vs. Guardians Game 2?
Game 2 is scheduled for Monday at 1 p.m. ET at Progressive Field before the series shifts to Chicago for Games 3 and 4.
Sources: Reuters; Associated Press (via La Nacion); USA Today; Athlon Sports.
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