CLEVELAND — The Guardians spent six months fighting Chicago for the AL Central. In Game 1 of the ALDS, the White Sox landed the first postseason punch.
Cleveland was shut out, 3-0, Saturday afternoon at Progressive Field, managing only three hits while wasting its best scoring opportunities and falling behind 1-0 in the best-of-five series.
Parker Messick pitched well enough to keep Cleveland in the game, but one mistake proved costly.
After three scoreless innings, Miguel Vargas opened the fourth with a single before Munetaka Murakami drove a Messick pitch over the right-field wall for a two-run homer and a 2-0 Chicago lead. Messick recovered to finish the inning and eventually departed with one out in the fifth after allowing four hits and two runs while striking out six and walking two over 4? innings.
The bigger problem was that Cleveland could not give him any help.
The Guardians had their first real opportunity in the third when Brayan Rocchio, Steven Kwan, and José Ramírez drew consecutive two-out walks to load the bases. Chicago replaced starter Hagen Smith with Bryan Hudson, who escaped when Chase DeLauter lined out to left.
Cleveland loaded the bases again in the fourth. Nathaniel Lowe walked, Travis Bazzana doubled him to third, and Austin Hedges drew another walk, but Anthony Kay retired Rocchio on a line drive to right to end the inning.
Two innings. Two bases-loaded opportunities. Nothing to show for either one.
That became the story of the afternoon.
Lowe doubled again in the sixth but was stranded, and Patrick Bailey singled to open the seventh before Kwan grounded into an inning-ending double play. Cleveland then went quietly in the eighth and struck out three times against Grant Taylor in the ninth.
Taylor was outstanding after entering in the sixth, throwing four scoreless innings while allowing only two hits and striking out six to earn the save.
Chicago added its final run in the seventh when Kyle Teel walked and Colson Montgomery doubled him home off Erik Sabrowski, stretching the lead to 3-0.
The Guardians bullpen otherwise did its job. Daniel Espino, Hunter Gaddis, Tim Herrin, and Cade Smith combined for three scoreless innings around Sabrowski’s seventh-inning run, keeping the game within reach.
Bazzana, Lowe, and Bailey accounted for the Guardians’ only three hits. Kwan, Ramírez, DeLauter, Jo Adell, and Angel Martínez combined to go 0-for-18, with Adell striking out all four times he came to the plate.
Cleveland also struck out 12 times as a team.
It is only one game in a best-of-five series, but losing the opener at home puts immediate pressure on the Guardians to respond Monday. The good news is Cleveland will send one of baseball’s best strikeout pitchers to the mound with a chance to even things up.
The bad news is it will not matter much if the offense looks like this again.
What’s Next
The Guardians and White Sox meet Monday at 5 p.m. ET at Progressive Field for Game 2 of the ALDS. Gavin Williams will start for Cleveland, while Chicago has not yet announced its starter.
