How the Chicago White Sox Disarmed Cleveland’s Top Stars in Game One of the ALDS

Chicago White Sox have not taken their foot off the gas in this postseason. The South Side continued their surprise run, taking a 1-0 lead in their ALDS with a stunning 3-0 win over the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field on Saturday. Munetaka Murakami's two-run home run in the fourth inning off the Guardians ace Parker Messick gave the White Sox the lead. Then rookie Colson Montgomery extended it with an awkward seventh-inning RBI double, silencing any momentum the Guardians had arrived with.

However, Messick had a great start against the White Sox and looked to have stifled all of the team's offense until the fifth inning. He threw 54 pitches through the first three innings, striking out six. In that time frame, Chicago had two base runners, both in the first inning, but Messick dialed in and hammered the strike zone, reaching 98 mph. Nonetheless, the Guardians offense couldn't back up his impressive performance as the White Sox bullpen shut down the team's top players throughout the game.

Chicago White Sox Pitching Masterclass Against the Guardians

One of the major headaches for the White Sox going into the game against the Guardians was how to neutralize their small-ball identity and aggressive base running when the ball is put in play. Steven Kwan and Jose Ramirez were their top players often used to deploy the strategy, with Travis Bazzana coming along. But Hagen Smith had other ideas as he got the start and looked dominant through the first eight batters, striking out four.

‎Although Smith allowed three consecutive walks to load the bases with two outs, Bryan Hudson came on and got the final out of the third inning without any further damage. Jordan Hicks was called on by Will Venable and got two strikeouts, but walked a batter before exiting in favor of Anthony Kay . With a runner on base, Kay proceeded to give up a two-out double. He then allowed the bases to be loaded with two outs, but once again was able to get out of the jam in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Kay ended the fifth inning with no runs allowed before Grant Taylor walked to the pitcher's mound in the sixth inning. Taylor did something that rarely happens in baseball. He completed a four-inning save, giving up just two hits and striking out six batters. It was an uncommon decision from Venable to allow Taylor to pitch in more than two innings. But Taylor tossed 42 pitches aggressively, leaving no doubt.

‎Meanwhile, Kwan went 0-for-3 with a walk, failing to put a ball in play for an extra-base hit. Ramirez also went 0-for-3, and Bazzana had just one hit. The Guardians were held to just three total hits.

The White Sox will get an off-day on Sunday before facing the Guardians for Game two of the ALDS . The Sox have yet to announce the starting pitcher for Game two, but there's an expectation that it will either be Davis Martin or Sean Burke . Martin was expected to start in Game three against the Houston Astros, but the South Siders got the job done in Game two. However, should it be Martin, he would be making his postseason debut and has not pitched since September. Burke pitched four innings against the Astros.

‎The Guardians were flat on Saturday because they had six days off following the end of the regular season. So they will be seeking a bounce back on Monday. Gavin Williams will be on the mound for Cleveland, and he's known as one of the best strikeout pitchers in the American League. With a 3.76 ERA in the regular season, Williams pitched in 184 1/3 innings with 248 strikeouts. The White Sox will have to show more patience than they did against Messick to earn the second win against the Guardians in this series.

Main Photo Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images