White Sox rally past Guardians bullpen, spoil 11-strikeout effort from Gavin Williams for 2-0 ALDS lead

Through five innings Monday, Cleveland Guardians ace Gavin Williams was pitching a playoff game to remember.Then the Chicago White Sox rallied against Cleveland's bullpen to spoil Williams' 11-strikeout effort and steal a 4-3 victory in Game 2 of the ALDS.With the win, the White Sox swept the first two games of the series on the road. They'll head to Chicago with a 2-0 series lead and two chances to close out the best-of-five series at home, with a spot in the ALCS at stake.White Sox bullpen game gets the win againThe White Sox countered Williams with another bullpen game that got off to a rough start when Cleveland's first two baserunners scored. But from there, Chicago's bullpen largely stymied Cleveland, led by 5 1/3 innings of one-hit ball from Sean Burke, who carried Chicago from the third inning into the eighth.Burke left the mound after issuing a two-out single to Chase DeLauter in the eighth. DeLauter then scored on a triple by Jo Adell off Grant Taylor that just missed clearing the high center-field wall.Then Taylor settled in to secure the final out of the frame and complete a four-out save in the ninth.Sox spoil Williams' big dayAt the plate, rookie slugger Munetaka Murakami delivered again, this time with an RBI single in the fourth off Williams to get the White Sox on the board and cut Cleveland's lead to 2-1.Munetaka Murakami drives in the White Sox first run! #Postseason pic.twitter.com/oBhQNV3Hpk— MLB (@MLB) October 5, 2026Williams didn't wilt with two men on and no outs. He closed out the frame with three straight outs, including a pair of strikeouts. He then recorded three more K's in the fifth to raise his strikeout tally to 11, one short of tying Cleveland's franchise record for a postseason game (Charles Nagy had 12 in 1996).But Williams issued a leadoff single to Miguel Vargas in the sixth. And at 98 pitches, his day was done. Manager Stephen Vogt pulled him in favor of reliever Erik Sabrowski, a move that immediately backfired.After getting one out, Sabrowski issued a walk to pinch hitter Randal Grichuk. After getting a second out, he allowed a two-out, two-RBI double to Braden Montgomery.BRADEN MONTGOMERY DELIVERSWhite Sox lead in the 6th! pic.twitter.com/AZcggaO5U0— MLB (@MLB) October 5, 2026With that, the score and the game script were flipped. Williams' brilliant starting effort on the mound was spoiled, and the White Sox turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead.Before the sixth inning was over, Chase Meidroth added an insurance run on a single that scored Montgomery from second. That RBI proved to be the difference in Chicago's 4-3 win.Big effort from BurkeEven though he accounted for Cleveland's final run in the eighth, Burke's effort on the mound paced a four-pitcher effort from Chicago's bullpen game. He and Sean Newcomb settled the staff down after opener Anthony Kay managed just one out while surrendering two runs (one earned).Burke finished the game having allowed 1 earned run on 1 hit and 1 walk with 6 strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings.The win leaves Chicago on the verge of another remarkable milestone. On the heels of three consecutive 100-plus-loss seasons, the White Sox are 4-0 in their first postseason appearance since 2021. With one more win, they'll advance to their first ALCS since 2005, the year they won the World Series.Williams, meanwhile, is saddled with disappointment alongside his Guardians teammates after starting the day on pace to make history on the mound.