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CLEVELAND — The Chicago White Sox will be haunted by José Ramírez all offseason. Their pitchers will jolt awake in cold sweats, haunted by visions of the Guardians' star launching go-ahead homers on pitches nearly scraping the dirt. Their infielders will replay Ramírez, helmet tumbling off as he sprints from third, somehow beating a 100 mph throw to home plate, and shudder. Any hope of peaceful slumber during the long Chicago winter will be shattered by memories of Ramírez diving at third base to escape a bases-loaded jam.
The Guardians are advancing to the ALCS after a 2-0 triumph in Game 5, taking the series 3-2. In doing so, they secured three straight elimination-game victories. Cleveland had fallen behind 0-2 after losses in Games 1 and 2, teetering on the edge of elimination. But in Games 3, 4, and 5, Ramírez delivered arguably the finest three-game stretch of his career precisely when the Guardians needed it most.
Over those final three contests, Ramírez batted .417 with a .500 on-base percentage and a staggering 1.667 OPS. He slugged two home runs, a triple, and a double, drove in seven runs, stole a base, and made the series' most critical defensive play. "That's what guys going to Cooperstown do," Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. "They step up when they need to, and he single-handedly won the game offensively for us tonight on a night where they were really good on the mound."
The White Sox had cruised to a 2-0 series lead, but Ramírez refused to let them close the door in Chicago in Games 3 and 4. Then, with a winner-take-all Game 5 on the line, Ramírez seized it all. On a night when both pitching staffs were stellar, Ramírez produced the one swing that tilted the series in Cleveland's favor.
"I would not doubt Jose Ramirez," Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said, covered in champagne. "He willed his way to finding a way to help us win these games."
In the fourth inning of Game 5, following a single by Steven Kwan, Ramírez somehow golfed a curveball six inches off the ground over the right-field wall for a go-ahead home run that proved to be the difference. Ramírez said afterward that he was looking for a curveball in the strike zone from White Sox pitcher Sean Burke. He didn't get it in the zone, but he still hit it out of the park. According to Sarah Langs, it was the lowest pitch hit for a postseason home run since at least 2008, when pitch tracking began.
"It was like we got our backs against the wall, and he said, 'All right, I got you,'" Vogt said. "That's what he's been doing for this franchise long before I got here. I mean, he's Cleveland baseball. He chose multiple times throughout his career to stay here. He loves this city, he loves this franchise, he loves his teammates."
Reliever Erik Sabrowski, who recorded the game's biggest out by striking out Munetaka Murakami with the bases loaded in the sixth inning, had a more direct response: "Build the f---ing statue."
Gavin Williams Strikes Out 12 to Beat White Sox in Game 5
While Ramírez handled the offense, Guardians starting pitcher Gavin Williams—affectionately known as "Big Rig" in Cleveland's clubhouse—steamrolled the White Sox lineup like a runaway semi-truck. In five dominant innings, Williams struck out 12 batters, tying a franchise playoff record. He allowed only one hit, a bloop single to right field.
The Guardians offense provided one swing's worth of production, and it was all Williams and the Cleveland bullpen needed while setting an MLB postseason record with 21 strikeouts in a nine-inning game. One after another, White Sox hitters flailed at pitches that were already past them before joining the parade back to the visiting dugout.
"Legend," Guardians catcher Austin Hedges said. "That's how legends are made. You can be good in the regular season, make yourself a lot of money, be a good player, but what you do in the postseason, that's how legends are made. And Gavin Williams, that guy's a legend."
Williams also closed out Game 4 even though he was lined up to pitch Game 5, as the Guardians needed eight pitchers to get through nine innings. He would have needed to throw a side session that day anyway, so Vogt used it to get a few more pitches out of him in the series. He finished Game 4, walked into Vogt's office and said he'd take the ball in Game 5, too. He then turned in a masterpiece of an outing.
It was one of the best postseason starts by a Cleveland pitcher in franchise history, particularly in a win-or-go-home situation. At a time when teams approach playoff pitching roles very differently than in the distant past, Williams gave them an old-school performance.
"He stopped by my office after Game 4 and said, 'I'll take the ball. I'm ready,'" Vogt said. "I mean, it was five minutes after we shook hands. And you just know his mindset for the last 48 hours was, 'I'm going to go out and I'm going to win this game.' I mean, that was unbelievable. It's hard to put thoughts together with what Gavin did in this series. That was big boy stuff today."
Ryan Lewis covers the Guardians for the Beacon Journal. He can be reached at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Jos Ramrez, Gavin Williams turn in 'legend' nights in Game 5 win.
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