Guardians finish reverse sweep, blank White Sox 2–0 in ALDS Game 5 with 21 strikeouts
- Final: Chicago White Sox 0, Cleveland Guardians 2
- Where: Progressive Field, Cleveland, OH
- When: Saturday, October 10, 2026
- League: MLB
Cleveland is going to the ALCS. The Guardians beat the White Sox 2–0 in Game 5 of the ALDS, winning the series 3–2 after trailing two games to one.
José Ramírez supplied all the offense. In the fourth inning, with Steven Kwan aboard, he golfed a pitch that was barely above home plate out to right field for a two-run homer.
Gavin Williams took it from there. Two days after closing out Game 4, he took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and finished with 5.2 innings, one hit and 12 strikeouts. Sabrowski struck out Murakami with the bases loaded in the sixth, Gaddis bridged the gap, and Cade Smith struck out four over the final 1.2 innings for the save.
The White Sox finished with three hits. Cleveland pitchers struck out 21 Chicago hitters, a postseason record for a nine-inning game. After Chicago took a 2–1 series lead with a chance to close it out, the Sox scored five runs combined across the last two games.
Our take: that's an October pitching staff, and Williams' Game 4-into-Game 5 turn was an old-school, give-me-the-ball performance. Cleveland opens the ALCS at Tampa Bay on Monday.
There was no AI house pick on this game, so it doesn't affect the record. The house record is 51–55–2.
The AI house pick: none on this game, so it doesn't move the record. The all-time house record is 51–55–2. Today's board is on the picks page, and every graded pick is in the archive.
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