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CLEVELAND — Gavin Williams delivered a dominant performance with 12 strikeouts, and Jose Ramirez launched a home run on a pitch just above the strike zone as the Cleveland Guardians shut out the Chicago White Sox 2-0 on Saturday night. With the victory, the Guardians completed a remarkable comeback from an 0-2 hole in the best-of-five American League Division Series.
Cleveland will now head to Tropicana Field to open the AL Championship Series against the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night. The franchise is aiming for its first World Series appearance since 2016 and its first championship since 1948, the longest title drought in Major League Baseball.
Guardians pitchers combined for 21 strikeouts, setting a record for the most in a nine-inning postseason game. The White Sox managed only three hits and put just nine balls in play all evening. Over the course of the series, Chicago struck out a staggering 75 times.
Two days after closing out Game 4, Williams became just the third pitcher in postseason history to record the final out of a game and then start the next game with his team facing elimination in both contests. He carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning before Kyle Teel looped a knuckle-curve into right field with two outs. That came two innings after Ramirez had given Cleveland the lead with a two-run homer off Sean Burke, his second home run in as many games.
After a walk loaded the bases in the sixth, Erik Sabrowski came out of the bullpen and struck out Munetaka Murakami on a foul tip, punctuating the moment with an emphatic yell. Williams' 12 strikeouts matched a Cleveland postseason record, and he generated 22 swing-and-misses. His 24 strikeouts across three games in the series tied for the second-most in a best-of-five postseason series.
Hunter Gaddis relieved Sabrowski and recorded four outs, and Cade Smith closed it out for his first career five-out save, striking out the side in the ninth. Smith blew a fastball past Tristan Peters for the final out, igniting a celebration at Progressive Field.
Chicago, which became the first team to reach the playoffs after three consecutive 100-loss seasons, saw its season come to an end.
Originally reported by players_bio.