Ramirez hits deciding HR to complete Guardians' ALDS comeback — SkimNews
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- Jose Ramirez hit a two-run homer on a knuckle-curve 0.74 feet above home plate — the lowest pitch hit for a postseason home run since Statcast tracking began in 2008 — after Steven Kwan led off the fourth with a single, accounting for all of Cleveland's scoring.
- Gavin Williams struck out 12 batters, tying Cleveland's postseason record, and became just the third pitcher in postseason history to record the final out of one game and start the next while his team faced elimination in both.
- The Cleveland pitching staff struck out 21 White Sox batters — the most ever in a nine-inning postseason game — and allowed only three hits; Chicago struck out 75 times across the five-game series.
- Erik Sabrowski escaped a bases-loaded jam in the sixth by striking out Munetaka Murakami on a foul tip, and Cade Smith finished with his first career five-out save, striking out the side in the ninth.
- The Cleveland Guardians advanced to face the Tampa Bay Rays in the ALCS starting Monday, seeking their first World Series trip since 2016; Tampa Bay went 5-1 against Cleveland in 2026, including a three-game sweep at Tropicana Field in July.
- The Chicago White Sox — the first team to reach the playoffs after three consecutive 100-loss seasons — were eliminated; Chicago has not won the World Series since 2004.
Why it matters: Cleveland's pitching staff set a nine-inning postseason strikeout record (21) while completing a rare 0-2 series comeback, putting the Guardians one round from their first World Series since 2016. The ALCS matchup against Tampa Bay is daunting — the Rays went 5-1 against Cleveland in 2026, including a July sweep — and Chicago's Cinderella run after three straight 100-loss seasons ends with 75 strikeouts in five games.
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