Guardians drop ALDS opener to White Sox
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CLEVELAND (AP) -- The Chicago White Sox used a major league-leading 11 bullpen games en route to their first postseason appearance since 2021.
Manager Will Venable also went with that approach to win Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series, starting a sweep at Houston.
The formula ended up paying dividends again on Saturday in an AL Division Series opener against Cleveland.
Five Chicago pitchers combined for a three-hitter and struck out 12, and Munetaka Murakami hit a two-run homer as the White Sox beat the Guardians 3-0.
“You go out and you have a rough plan and then the players have to go out and execute, and then we were able to do that today,” Venable said. “They’re going to take their walks, and they have a dynamic offense. So really important that you have guys pick each other up in these situations, which we saw today.”
Colson Montgomery added an RBI double for the White Sox, who have won nine of 11 games dating to the regular season.
It was the sixth White Sox postseason shutout, their first since the finale of a 2005 World Series sweep of Houston.
Cleveland, which won its third straight AL Central title by one game over the White Sox, had the bases loaded with two outs the third and fourth innings but couldn’t get any runs across.
“Of course you’re frustrated when you get shut out, but I thought our guys fought and battled,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “With how well they threw, we were getting on base. We just couldn’t get it going early in the inning,”
Game 2 is Monday afternoon at Progressive Field. The series shifts to Chicago for Game 3 on Wednesday.
Taylor gets first four-inning postseason save since 2017
Bryan Hudson (1-0) relieved starter Hagen Smith and got Chase DeLauter to line out to left with the bases loaded in the third to get out of the inning.
The star of the White Sox staff was Grant Taylor, who became the sixth pitcher in MLB postseason history to work at least four innings and pick up a save, the first since Houston’s Lance McCullers Jr. in the 2017 AL Championship Series against the New York Yankees.
“It was some of the best pitching I’ve ever seen. He was hitting his spots left and right and just attacking hitters,” Teel said.
Taylor had a career-best six strikeouts and allowed two hits. The right-hander struck out the last four Guardians, including Travis Bazzana on a curveball to end the game.
“We’ve kind of done that the whole year of being able to hand it off to the next guy,” Taylor said. “Other guys pitching some positions that aren’t super familiar, but being able to do that in the postseason was unbelievable and you also had that on the defense as well.”
Smith retired the first eight Cleveland hitters before loaded with bases with outs in the third on walks to Brayan Rocchio, Steven Kwan and José Ramírez. Bryan Hudson came in and got Chase DeLauter to line out to left.
Cleveland didn’t get its first hit until Travis Bazzana’s line-drive double down the right-field line with two outs in the fourth off Anthony Kay. Austin Hedges drew a walk to load the bases again before Rocchio lined out to right.
“I was definitely in a blender today, getting different looks every time up from a different pitcher,” said Guardians designated hitter Jo Adell, who struck out in all four of his at-bats. “We were trying to find it all day. Postseason is a pitcher’s duel and it’s one of those things. We’ve got to bounce back.”
DODGERS 6, BRAVES 3
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Tarik Skubal tossed six dominant innings in triple-digit heat, Teoscar Hernández, Kyle Tucker and Max Muncy homered, and Los Angeles beat Atlanta in Game 1 of their NL Division Series.
The game-time temperature of 100 degrees (38 Celsius) fell just short of equaling the Dodger Stadium record of 103 degrees at Game 1 of the 2017 World Series. The feels-like temperature was 105 degrees, with umpires chugging water between innings and fans shielding their heads with giveaway towels on a cloudless day.
Skubal was cool, though.
The two-time Cy Young Award winner allowed one run and two hits, struck out seven and walked two while starting a postseason game at home for the first time in his career. His previous playoff starts were all on the road for the Detroit Tigers, who traded him to the two-time defending World Series champions just before the Aug. 3 deadline.
Skubal’s 63 strikeouts are the second-most in a pitcher’s first seven postseason appearances behind Bob Gibson’s 74.
Game 2 is Sunday evening at Dodger Stadium, when an extreme heat warning remains in effect.
RAYS 1, YANKEES 0
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- Drew Rasmussen didn’t allow a hit until two outs in the eighth inning, Jonathan Aranda homered off Gerrit Cole and Tampa Bay beat New York in their AL Division Series.
Rasmussen retired 15 consecutive batters before Austin Wells doubled with two outs in the eighth inning, ripping a liner just inside the right-field foul line on an inside sinker.
He was easily thrown out on shortstop Taylor Walls’ relay to third baseman Junior Caminero of right fielder Victor Mesa Jr. ‘s throw. Wells ran through the stop sign of third base coach Luis Rojas, who raised both arms before Wells rounded second.
Rasmussen dominated a lineup that scored 18 runs in a two-game Wild Card Series sweep of Boston and was still missing three-time AL MVP Aaron Judge, sidelined since Sept. 16 by a calf injury.
A 31-year-old righty, Rasmussen struck out 10 and walked two in eight innings. He threw 69 of 101 pitches for strikes, getting 23 swings and misses.
Bryan Baker pitched a perfect ninth for the save, finishing the one-hitter. He struck out pinch-hitter Giancarlo Stanton, in his first plate appearance since April 24 after recovering from calf injuries, froze Ben Rice with a changeup for a called third strike and retired Cody Bellinger on a grounder to secure Tampa Bay’s first postseason win since losing the 2020 World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
BREWERS 3, PADRES 2
MILWAUKEE (AP) -- William Contreras hit a tiebreaking homer in the seventh inning and Milwaukee hung on to beat San Diego in their NL Division Series opener after a potential go-ahead homer by the Padres’ Ty France hit the American Family Field roof and landed in outfielder Jackson Chourio’s glove for an out.
San Diego had a runner on first with one out in the ninth inning when France hit a towering flyball that struck a railing on the roof before Chourio caught it in fair territory on the left-field warning track.
Under the stadium’s ground rules, any batted ball striking the roof or one of its cables in fair territory is a fair ball that can be caught for an out, so Chourio’s catch retired France. The Padres unsuccessfully challenged that France’s drive was a foul ball.
Jackson Merrill then lined out to right to end the game.