October 4, 2026 · By Rye Callahan · 5 min read
The White Sox keep doing this. Five pitchers combined on a three-hitter with 12 strikeouts Saturday as Chicago blanked Cleveland 3-0 in Game 1 of the AL Division Series at Progressive Field, stealing home-field advantage from the AL Central champs.
The big blow came in the fourth. Rookie Munetaka Murakami, the 26-year-old from Japan, crushed a 440-foot two-run homer off All-Star Parker Messick, his first postseason homer and his 36th of the year, scoring Miguel Vargas. Colson Montgomery doubled home Kyle Teel in the seventh off Erik Sabrowski for the final margin.
Manager Will Venable kept it simple afterward: "You go out and you have a rough plan and then the players have to go out and execute, and then we were able to do that today."
via Reuters
Game 1, in context
- Three hits, 12 strikeouts. Rookie Hagen Smith opened with 2 2/3 scoreless innings and four strikeouts before walking the bases loaded in the third. Bryan Hudson got the win by retiring Chase DeLauter to escape the jam.
- Grant Taylor's four-inning save. The closer threw the final four innings with six strikeouts and two hits, the sixth pitcher in postseason history with a save of four-plus innings and the first since Houston's Lance McCullers Jr. in 2017.
- Cleveland's missed chances. The Guardians loaded the bases with two outs in both the third and fourth innings and scored nothing. Their first hit was Travis Bazzana's double in the fourth.
- The drought is dead. Chicago's third straight postseason win after sweeping Houston in the Wild Card broke a 21-year series-win drought. It was the sixth postseason shutout in franchise history and the first since the 2005 World Series sweep of Houston. The Sox have won 9 of their last 11 dating to the regular season.
The bullpen game, again
Nobody in baseball ran more bullpen games than the White Sox this season. They did it 11 times, most in MLB, and Venable keeps pulling the same lever in October. Smith gave them 2 2/3 scoreless with four punchouts, the bridge held and Taylor slammed the door for four innings. When a team has done this 11 times, it is not improvisation. It is the plan.
Cleveland had its chances to blow the plan up. Bases loaded, two outs, in the third and again in the fourth, and nothing to show for either. Guardians manager Stephen Vogt did not hide the frustration: "Of course you're frustrated when you get shut out, but I thought our guys fought and battled."
Murakami's moment
The homer was the story of the night. A 26-year-old rookie in his first postseason at-bats that mattered, facing an All-Star making his own postseason debut, and he hit one 440 feet. Messick lasted 4 1/3 innings with six strikeouts and two earned runs in his first October start, and the only real damage came on the one swing that decided the game.
Two years ago this franchise lost 121 games. Last year it lost 102. Now it is one win from taking a 2-0 series lead into Chicago, with Game 2 set for Monday afternoon in Cleveland and Games 3 and 4 back home.
The betting angle
The Sox keep winning as underdogs and the market keeps doubting them. Ride the wave, but remember what makes bullpen games work also makes them fragile: when five pitchers all have to be nearly perfect, the margin for error is razor thin. One bad bridge inning flips the whole formula.
Game 2 is the spot to watch whether the price has caught up. If Cleveland is still laying a big number at home down 0-1 against a team that has now won 9 of 11, the value has a way of finding the hotter clubhouse. But do not confuse a great story with a safe bet. Bullpen games are variance, and variance cuts both ways.
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