Guardians knock out White Sox, cap ALDS comeback with historic 21-K night — SkimNews
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- Cleveland Guardians pitchers set an MLB record with 21 strikeouts in nine innings during a 2-0 Game 5 win over the Chicago White Sox, completing a comeback from an 0-2 series deficit to win the ALDS.
- Gavin Williams struck out 12 in 5⅔ innings on one day's rest, allowing just one hit with a fastball averaging 99 mph; the bullpen added nine more strikeouts.
- Jose Ramirez hit a two-run homer off Sean Burke in the fourth inning on a curveball 0.89 feet off the ground — the lowest pitch hit for a postseason homer since Statcast tracking began in 2008, and the only runs of the game.
- Ramirez bounced back from an 0-for-6 series start to go 5-for-12 with two home runs over the final three games, prompting reliever Erik Sabrowski to shout, 'Build the f---ing statue.'
- Sabrowski struck out Munetaka Murakami with the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth to preserve the 2-0 lead; Murakami whiffed 11 times across the series.
- Cleveland became just the 11th team in 94 tries to win a best-of-five series after losing the first two games, and their 75 strikeouts across the five games set a record for any five-game series.
Why it matters: Cleveland pulled off one of baseball's toughest feats — just the 11th team in 94 tries to erase an 0-2 deficit in a best-of-five — and now faces the AL's top seed, the Tampa Bay Rays, in the ALCS starting Monday. The Guardians' 75 strikeouts across five games are a series record, and their Game 5 performance gave the lower seed a massive momentum edge heading into a matchup where they are not expected to be favored.
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