White Sox Edge Guardians to Pad ALDS Lead

Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images

October 5, 2026

White Sox 4, Guardians 3 — ALDS Game Two

The Chicago White Sox took a 2–0 ALDS lead after beating the host Cleveland Guardians, 4–3, Monday. With this victory, only one game stands between the White Sox and a trip to the American League Championship Series. A two-run double by Braden Montgomery helped the White Sox nail down the come-from-behind-win. After an off-day Tuesday, these two teams will meet again in Chicago for Game Three of the ALDS with first pitch slated for 3 pm Central at Rate Field on Wednesday. Both teams have yet to announce their starting pitchers for that matchup.

White Sox — Guardians Game Summary

The Guardians drew first blood in the bottom of the first against lefty Anthony Kay. Steven Kwan led off with a single to right, and Jose Ramirez followed with a walk. Both runners advanced 90 feet on a 4–3 groundout by Chase DeLauter. That brought an abrupt end to Kay’s afternoon as White Sox manager Will Venable brought in reliever Sean Newcomb.

As his first order of business, Newcomb issued an intentional walk to Jo Adell. Moments later, Kwan and Ramirez came around to score when Nathaniel Lowe reached on a throwing error by Newcomb. Lowe hit a high chopper to the third base side of the mound. Newcomb picked it up but threw it away. It rolled past first baseman Munetaka Murakami and bounced off the wall to the left of the Guardians’ dugout. Adell reached third on the play.

The White Sox cut the lead in half in the top of the fourth off right-hander Gavin Williams. Kyle Teel and Miguel Vargas reached on a single to center and a walk, respectively, to open the stanza. Murakami brought Teel home with a sharp single to right.

White Sox Take the Lead

The White Sox scored three more in the top of the sixth. Vargas led off with a single to left. This prompted Guardians manager Stephen Vogt to bring in Erik Sabrowski to relieve Williams. A groundout to second by Murakami moved Vargas to second. Up next was Randal Grichuk, pinch-hitting for Andrew Benintendi. Grichuk drew a free pass to bring up Tommy Pham, who was taking his swings for Tristan Peters.

A wild pitch by Sabrowski moved both runners up a base. After Pham flied to left, Montgomery drove in Vargas and Grichuk with a double to right. The Guardians made another change and brought in Hunter Gaddis to relieve Sabrowski. On deck was Chase Meidroth, who plated Montgomery with a single to right.

The Guardians added one more in the bottom of the eighth with reliever Sean Burke pitching. DeLauter lined a two-out single to left, bringing an end to Burke’s evening. Grant Taylor came in to relieve him. The first man he faced was Adell, who tripled on a ball that bounced off the wall in left. DeLauter scored on the play.

Taylor escaped the eighth without further damage, inducing a fly to left by Lowe. He pitched a perfect ninth to close out the 4–3 win.

What Went Right for the White Sox

Things clicked for the White Sox when they had their three-run sixth inning. The wild pitch from Sabrowski put Vargas and Grichuk into scoring position. The two-run double by Montgomery and the run-scoring single by Meidroth helped put the win within reach for the White Sox. Murakami’s RBI single in the fourth helped get things started for them as well.

What Went Wrong for the White Sox

The White Sox faced trouble early on with the two-run throwing error by Newcomb in the first that scored Kwan and Ramirez. They were able to right the ship from that point on.

Pitching Notes

Burke picked up the win for the White Sox on Monday. After taking over for Newcomb in the third, Burke turned in 5 1/3 innings where he gave up one run that was earned on one hit, one walk, and six strikeouts.

Taylor took home the save after tossing an inning and a third, allowing one hit.

Sabrowski shouldered both the loss and blown save after recording only two outs in the sixth. He surrendered two runs, both earned, on one hit and one walk.

Venable’s Postgame Comments

After the game, White Sox manager Will Venable discussed how his team made their way out of the tougher situations. “I mean, first of all, as we evaluated their lineup, our game plan changed a little bit, in which we had Kay starting and then we went Newc behind him,” he said. “Some combination of Kay plus Newc to get through DeLauter the second time and then go ahead and pop Burke in there. Obviously we talked all series about these guys. And if you give them passes, they make you pay for it. That happened there early. So we switched over to Newc pretty quickly there. He did a nice shot of settling things down. It just turned into one of those games.”

Vogt’s Postgame Comments

On the other side, Guardians manager Stephen Vogt reflected on the Guardians’ lack of offense thus far in this series. “Two games, unfortunately it is two games that are in the postseason,” he remarked. “A little bit of ‘try to do too much,’ a little bit of chase, maybe not ready to hit your pitch at times. Again, we have had two-game stretches like this all year and we come right back. I have a lot of faith in this offense. I have a lot of faith in this team. Obviously we have our work cut out for us. Like I said, this team plays its best with its back against the wall. I am looking forward to getting out on the field on Wednesday.”