Chicago White Sox Vs. Cleveland Guardians Game 5 Preview
They say the two best words in sports are "game seven", well for the division series those words are "game five". This year we are only getting one game five, and that will be between the Cleveland Guardians and the Chicago White Sox.
The Guardians took the unconventional route of getting to a game five by losing the first two games at home, but rallied to win two straight road games to force a game five. Gavin Williams took a page out of Yoshinobu Yamamoto's book and will start game five after closing out game four, just two days earlier.
In the first two games of the series, the White Sox pitching staff shutdown the Guardian's offense holding them to just three runs combined, which all came in game two. Like a phoenix rising from ashes, the Guardian's offense woke up in games three and four scoring nine runs in each game. Now, Cleveland will hope to win a game at home and advance to the ALCS where the Rays await.
Tale of the Tape:
Gavin Williams vs. White Sox in 2026: 0-1, 3.98 ERA in four regular season starts
Sean Burke vs. Guardians in 2026: 2-0, 1.04 ERA in three regular season starts.
Guardian Hitters to Watch
Austin Hedges: Not a name you'd expect to see, but he went 4-7 against Sean Burke this year with a home run.
Jose Ramirez: An obvious name, but he went 0-10 against Burke in the regular season with 5 strikeouts.
White Sox Hitters to Watch
Miguel Vargas: The breakout star went 7-15 against Gavin Williams this season.
Anyone not named Vargas or Murakami: As a team, Chicago hit 2 homers and 10 RBI's off Williams this season with Vargas and Murakami accounting for both home runs and seven of those ten runs batted in. If the White Sox are going to punch their ticket to the championship series, the rest of the lineup needs to step up.
Prediction: The White Sox were an amazing story this year and their future will only get brighter but in game five I expect the Guardians' bats to stay hot. Gavin Williams will get through five innings, and Cade Smith goes another two innings to save the game. Guardians win 5-3 and advance to face the AL's best, Tampa Bay Rays.
