Guardians' postseason backs are against wall after bullpen blows Gavin Williams’ fantastic ALDS start

It took all of three Guardians batters in Cleveland's ALDS matchup against the White Sox on Monday for Chicago manager Will Venable to come bounding out of the White Sox dugout and make a pitching change.

After a leadoff single from Steven Kwan that was followed by a walk to José Ramírez, starting pitcher Anthony Kay finally got some kind of out when he got Chase DeLauter to ground out to second. 

But that was enough to seemingly change Venable’s pitching plans, as he took the ball from Kay and called in Sean Newcomb. 

It didn’t work. 

After giving up an intentional walk to Jo Adell, the Guardians scraped two runs across on a Baltimore chop from Lowe that resulted in a throwing error from Newcomb. 

Unfortunately for the Guardians, relying on having that being their only offensive production for the game didn’t work. 

In fact, Cleveland’s offense managed just one more hit after their first inning outburst in what turned into a 4-3 Guardians loss that leaves them with no margin for error against teh White Sox as the series heads back to Cleveland. 

One side had a manager who didn’t seem to trust his pitching plan, while the other had a bonafide ace in Gavin Williams who stifled the White Sox’s bats… until the bullpen blew it. 

It’s always rare when the Guardians seem like the “normal” team in a game, but that’s what happens when you play the 2026 White Sox. And it’s clearly working for the White Sox. 

The Guardians' offense blew Gavin Williams' ace-like start against White Sox

Williams ended up racking up 11 strikeouts over five innings against the White Sox with two earned runs allowed on four hits. 

He became the fourth pitcher in Cleveland history to record five strikeouts in the first two innings of a postseason game, and became the third Cleveland pitcher to record double-digit strikeouts in a postseason game. 

Meanwhile, the White Sox’s “starter” left the game before some fans had even found their seats. 

Venable ended up turning to Sean Burke as the bulk pitcher in the third inning to counter the right-handed hitting Adell, which was the kind of pitching substitution the Guardians wanted when they built their lineup. 

But their offense failed to do much of anything with that opportunity before Clevleand’s bullpen blew it in relief of Williams in the sixth inning. 

Williams surrendered a leadoff single to Miguel Vargas before being relieved for Erik Sabrowski, who gave up a go-ahead double to Braden Montgomery. 

Burke was utterly dominant in relief, as he set down 14 straight before being pulled for Grant Taylor in the eighth inning after allowing a single to Chase DeLauter. 

Adell gave the Guardians some hope with a run-scoring triple to center field, but that was all Cleveland could muster against Taylor.

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