MLB: Guardians fall to White Sox in Game 2 of ALDS

CLEVELAND — The season isn't over, but it sure feels that way. Shut down for the second straight game by the White Sox bullpen, the Guardians fell 4-3 in Game 2 of the American League Division Series in front of another sellout crowd at Progressive Field on Monday night. Down 2-0 with the series shifting to Chicago, Cleveland faces what looks like an insurmountable task of winning three straight to keep its postseason dreams alive. "Obviously the game didn't go how we wanted, but I think we've done a really good job of flushing games," Steven Kwan said. "We've got the day off (today). Make sure we have some good focus, but obviously, yeah, not how you want to finish this game." Manager Stephen Vogt is keeping the faith, though there is no other alternative. "Backs against the wall, this is where this team thrives," Vogt sid. "You don't want to be in this position. We're not going to sugarcoat it. We backed ourselves into a corner, we know that. But if there's anything I know about this group of guys is that we love challenges like this and we're going to embrace it. "We're not going to sulk. We're not going to feel sorry for ourselves. We're going to come ready to play on Wednesday and we know what's ahead of us. We've got to go win three in a row, but that starts with one at a time on Wednesday." The Guardians led 2-0 after the White Sox gifted them two runs in the first inning on a throwing error from left-hander Sean Newcomb. But Chicago fought back with three runs in the sixth — taking the lead for good on a two-out, two-run double from Braden Montgomery off Erik Sabrowski. "I just didn't have it today, and it's unfortunate. It was a pretty big part of the game and I let a lot of guys down," Sabrowski said. Cleveland had only four hits — two after the third inning — after being held to three hits and blanked by Chicago 3-0 in Game 1 on Saturday. Right-hander Sean Burke pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings in relief for the White Sox. Jo Adell gave the Guardians a glimmer of hope with an RBI triple high off the left-field wall with two outs in the eighth to score Chase DeLauter, who had half his team's hits. Adell entered the at-bat with six strikeouts and a walk in seven plate appearances over the first two games. He thought he had hit a game-tying homer. "I for sure thought it was out. It's one of those days where it didn't travel that way and that's the way the game is," he said. "But we're convicted in our approach and our at-bats and we have a bunch of really good players in here, so we're going to continue to fight." "A lot of their guys are pitching really well. They're hitting their spots," Kwan said. "It feels like they have a little extra life to their stuff." Guardians starter Gavin Williams was elite early before running out of steam to start the sixth. The right-hander didn't allow a hit through the first three innings and became one of only four Cleveland pitchers to record five strikeouts in the first two innings of a postseason game, joining Matthew Boyd (Game 5 of the 2024 ALDS), Carlos Carrasco (Game 2 of the 2020 ALWCS) and Corey Kluber (Game 1 of the 2016 WS). Williams was amped up to say the least, throwing eight pitches 100-plus mph in the first and second. "I feel like I've been doing it all year. It just wasn't today. I've hit 101 (mph) a couple times this year, but it could've been the juices, too," said Williams, who allowed two runs on four hits and walked three. His 11 strikeouts accounted for the fourth time a Cleveland pitcher struck out 10 or more in the postseason, the first since Bartolo Colon in Game 1 of the 2001 ALDS at Seattle. "When he's out there and he's doing it, you almost feel like you're invisible out there," Kwan said. "He did a great job today." "It's tough. He's been unbelievable this entire year and another performance tonight with him just going out and being who he is and being that dominant starter. And fortunately we couldn't tally behind it," Adell said. The Guardians have at least one more chance to save the season in Game 3 at Rate Field. "We've had a ton of adversity throughout this year. We had a ton of adversity last year as well, so there's no panic button," Kwan said. "We're not trying to do too much. We're just gonna have to do it with a ton of focus." "It's just another game. We're not stressing in here," Williams said. "We're going to do what we know how to do. I don't think there's any pressure. We know what we've gotta do, and we're gonna do it." Contact Chris Assenheimer at (440) 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @CAwesomeheimer on X.