White Sox rally late to take 2-0 ALDS lead on Guardians
The Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Guardians 4-3 on Monday night at Progressive Field to take a 2-0 lead in the American League Division Series. The winner moves on to the American League Championship Series, one step from the World Series.
Chicago did it with a sixth-inning rally. Rookie Braden Montgomery pulled an opposite-field double to put the White Sox ahead, then scored later in the same inning on a single. The Guardian
The choice stood out. Montgomery entered with a .430 OPS in 103 plate appearances against left-handers in the regular season. OPS is on-base plus slugging, one number for total production at the plate. Andrew Benintendi was at designated hitter, the spot in the lineup that hits but does not play defense, as manager Will Venable stayed with his rookie in the big spot.
Venable is in his second year running Chicago. He played eight years in the majors, mostly with San Diego, after a two-sport career at Princeton. He played shooting guard there from 2001 to 2005, earned first-team All-Ivy honors in basketball, led Princeton to the NCAA Tournament, and once scored 21 points against Duke. In baseball he also earned All-Ivy honors, becoming only the second Princeton athlete to do it in both sports.
For fans, this means the turnaround is real and close to historic. Two seasons ago Chicago lost 121 games. As of 7 October, the White Sox were five wins away from the World Series and could reach the Championship Series with a win in Chicago on Wednesday. They even received a letter of support from Pope Leo XIV during this postseason run.
The pitching plan has helped. Chicago is managing matchups rather than innings, instead of asking a starter to throw six-plus. That means quick hooks and fresh arms for specific hitters.
This matchup is familiar. Chicago and Cleveland are division rivals, and Venable said before the series started that the season series had been back-and-forth all year. MLB.com Games 1 and 2 aired live on TBS and HBO Max. Now the series shifts to Chicago. One more White Sox win ends it.
