CLEVELAND (AP) — Gavin Williams struck out 12, José Ramírez homered on a pitch just above home plate and the Cleveland Guardians beat the Chicago White Sox 2-0 Saturday night to complete a comeback from an 0-2 deficit in their best-of-five AL Division Series.
Cleveland opens the AL Championship Series at Tampa Bay on Monday night, seeking its first World Series trip since 2016. The Guardians/Indians franchise hasn’t won the title since 1948, the longest drought among MLB teams.
Guardians pitchers struck out 21, the most in a nine-inning postseason game. The White Sox got just three hits, putting only nine balls in play, and struck out 75 times over the series.
Two days after getting the save in Game 4, Williams became just the third pitcher in postseason history to get the last out of a game and start the following game when his team faced elimination in both.
He didn’t allow a hit until Kyle Teel looped a knuckle-curve into right field with two outs in the sixth, two innings after Ramírez homered for the second straight game, a two-run drive off Sean Burke.
After a walk loaded the bases, Erik Sabrowski relieved and struck out Munetaka Murakami.
Williams’ 12 strikeouts tied Cleveland’s record for a postseason game. He got 22 swings and misses, and his 24 strikeouts over three games tied for second-most in a best-of-five postseason series.
Hunter Gaddis followed Sabrowsk and got four outs. Cade Smith finished for his first career five-out save, striking out the side in the ninth. He blew a fastball by Tristan Peters for the final out, setting off a celebration at Progressive Field.
Chicago, the first team to reach the playoffs after three straight 100-loss seasons, has not won the World Series since 2004.
