Guardians Force Winner-Take-All ALDS Game 5 With 9-5 Win Over White Sox

The Cleveland Guardians refused to go home. Trailing the series 2-1 and facing elimination, they stormed back to beat the Chicago White Sox 9-5 in Game 4 at Rate Field on Thursday night, forcing a winner-take-all Game 5 in Cleveland on Saturday.

Chicago struck first and twice held the lead, going up 2-0 in the third and 4-3 in the fifth. But Cleveland answered with the long ball for the first time all series — Patrick Bailey and Jose Ramirez went deep in the fifth, with Ramirez's two-run shot giving the Guardians a 3-2 edge they briefly lost and then seized for good.

The decisive blow came in the sixth: Cleveland sent ten batters to the plate and scored six runs on five hits, two walks and a hit batter. Bailey delivered a go-ahead single and Jo Adell lined a two-run single to right as the Guardians built a 9-4 cushion. White Sox reliever Grant Taylor, so reliable earlier in the series, failed to record an out while surrendering four runs.

Miguel Vargas homered in the ninth to make it 9-5, but Gavin Williams — Cleveland's presumptive Game 5 starter — came on to record the final three outs. Ramirez finished with three RBIs and Erik Sabrowski earned the win in relief. The White Sox, who swept the first two games in Cleveland, missed a second straight chance to reach their first ALCS since 2005. The winner faces the Tampa Bay Rays.