Paul Sullivan: Grant Taylor and White Sox relievers keep doing ‘our little thing’ in Game 1 win

CLEVELAND — The last time Chicago White Sox closer Grant Taylor took the mound at Progressive Field, during a Sept. 15 showdown with the Cleveland Guardians, he watched a two-out fly ball to left field by Brayan Rocchio turn into a walk-off, two-run double in a 7-6 loss.

It was the most heartbreaking defeat of the season for the Sox and would loom large in their fall from first place in the American League Central to a wild-card spot. The Guardians won the division title and the coveted first-round bye, and the Sox were forced to go to Houston to start the postseason.

But Taylor didn't let that blown save linger, knowing he would get another chance.

And on Saturday afternoon at Progressive Field, Taylor posted a four-inning save in a 3-0 Sox win in Game 1 of the American League Division Series, giving them first blood in the best-of-five series.

After throwing three scoreless innings and 54 pitches to end Game 1 of the wild-card series, everyone was wondering what Taylor could do for an encore. How about four more scoreless frames and six strikeouts? The six K's tied for the most strikeouts in a postseason relief appearance without a walk.

"He had his stuff today" shortstop Colson Montgomery said. "He's a stud. We all knew he was the guy that was going to finish the game. We felt like it didn't matter if a guy got on or anything like that. He's our guy that you want in those late-inning situations. You can worry about (upcoming) games when you get there."

The Sox continued to out-bullpen their opponents, with five pitchers combining for the shutout, allowing only three hits with 12 strikeouts. Munetaka Murakami's two-run, 440-foot home run off Parker Messick in the fourth was all the offense the Sox needed, and Montgomery's ground-ball double to left, which had an exit velocity of 64 mph, brought home Kyle Teel from first with an insurance run in the seventh.

The Sox pitching strategy has been something to watch, even if it's not the kind of baseball you grew up watching, when aces such as Bob Gibson and Sandy Koufax finished what they started.

For the second time in three games, rookie reliever Hagen Smith was the multi-inning opener and Taylor the multi-inning closer.

Old friends, like bookends, making memories together.

Could this be the future of postseason baseball? Or is it just a Will Venable thing?

"I think in the near future it's probably a little unique," Taylor said. "Just how many times we've done it this year. … We set the record for bullpen innings this year and guys going one-plus (innings). Possibly some other teams will try to copy that, but for the most part I think it will stay relatively normal with how it's been — starting pitching goes a (few) less innings and then throw it to the guys in the middle.

The Sox bullpen's 766 innings this year were third-most in major-league history, while their 214 appearances of 1 1/3 innings or more set a major-league record. Appropriately, a photo of Jerome Holtzman, the former Chicago Tribune baseball writer who invented the save rule, hung in the Progressive Field press box. "The Dean" was no doubt smiling down on his beloved Sox, a team whose relievers rule the roost.

Taylor wasn't the only Sox pitcher who stood up when it mattered most.

Veteran Bryan Hudson, who relieved Smith in the third after the rookie walked the bases loaded, induced Chase DeLauter to fly to left to end the threat.

"That was an awesome opportunity," Hudson said. "That was probably the most adrenaline I've had in my entire life, to go out there and get one for the team."

Anthony Kay stranded the bases loaded in the fourth by getting Rocchio to fly to right, then pitched a perfect sixth to get the ball to Taylor for the end game.

The press box announcer informed the media Sean Newcomb was coming in for the bottom of the ninth, but that announcement turned out to be premature. Pitching in the shadows, Taylor struck out the side and became only the sixth reliever with a four-inning postseason save since the save became an official statistic in 1969.

"The shadows were crazy," Kay said. "His stuff is nasty already to begin with. Having those shadows put a little something extra into some of those crazy swings. He's been special all year, and for Grant to do it for four innings was even crazier."

Smith exhibited no nerves as the opener, throwing 2 2/3 scoreless innings after his three scoreless frames in Game 1 of the wild-card series. But Smith did experience control problems with three walks in the third, when his mechanics looked off, forcing Venable to call on Hudson.

"It could be that, or it could be maybe I was trying to do too much in the moment," Smith said. "I fully trust (Hudson) coming in and getting it done."

Hudson, one of their late-inning leverage relievers, said there are "no roles here" at this point of the season.

"Everyone just comes in and does their job, so we're kind of used to it," he said. "It's nothing crazy, and the guys like it, and obviously if we keep winning we love it. What we're doing is our little thing right now, but who knows what will transpire in the future?"

Kay, a starter all year, said it doesn't take much buy-in from Venable to convince the starters to be chameleons.

"I don't think he really needs to do anything," Kay said. "If you're not buying into the team's success at this point. … That's the main goal at this point — winning. I don't think anything else matters, and everyone else has bought into the idea of doing their job and handing it off to the next guy."

Hudson was credited with the win, but it was truly a group effort, the way they've operated all season. The stepping stones of the White Sox bullpen are now firmly in place for the rest of the postseason, with interchangeable parts and a collective mindset:

Baseball purists might brace their eyes at the 2026 White Sox. But the future is here, and the Sox are embracing change like no team has done before.