Cleveland Guardians’ Pitching Was Simply Dominant in their ALDS Victory

Being bored typically isn’t how someone would describe watching a win-or-go-home Game 5 between two division rivals.

However, there were times when the Cleveland Guardians’ defenders looked like they were getting a little bit antsy on the field while watching the Chicago White Sox take their at-bats on Saturday night.

This had nothing to do with anything they could control, though; it had everything to do with what Cleveland’s pitchers did on the mound.

The Guardians used four pitchers to take down the White Sox in the final game of the ALDS on Saturday night.

Outside of Jose Ramirez’s two-run home run, it was Cleveland’s pitching that won the game. Chicago simply had no answer for what the Guardians were throwing at them, literally and figuratively.

It all started with what Gavin Williams did on the mound, just 48 hours after he finished the ninth inning in Game 4. Cleveland’s starting pitcher threw 5.2 innings, gave up no earned runs, allowed only three total baserunners, and struck out 12 batters on 22 whiffs.

Once Williams ran out of gas, Stephen Vogt turned to Erik Sabrowski in arguably the biggest moment of the game, as the White Sox had the bases loaded with Munetaka Murakami at the plate. He struck out the power hitter on five pitches.

The final two pitchers to take the mound for the Guardians were Hunter Gaddis and Cade Smith, and each pitcher struck out all four batters they faced.

A couple of stats put into perspective just how dominant the Guardians’ pitching staff was.

First, the White Sox offered at 80 of Cleveland’s pitches on Saturday night, and only nine of those balls were put into play.

Another incredible piece of history showing how good the Guardians’ arms were in Game 5 was that their 21 team punchouts were the most in a nine-inning game in MLB history, in both the regular season and postseason.

Cleveland’s dominant pitching on Saturday night was a theme throughout the entire series, too. The White Sox struck out a total of 75 throughout the five games, which set a record for the most strikeouts by an offense in the Division Series.

Looking ahead to the ALCS against the Tampa Bay Rays, Cleveland’s game plan to win the series and return to the World Series is clear: keep riding the pitching staff’s dominance and hope the offense scores enough to keep the Guardians ahead.

It’s a strategy that’s worked for this franchise in past postseason runs, but Cleveland has to be mindful of how much some of its best pitchers have been used. Williams has thrown 210 total pitches in the ALDS, and Cade Smith is up to 94, too.

If Cleveland’s pitching can stay sharp as it heads into St. Petersburg, though, the Guardians proved in the ALDS it’s good enough to give them a chance against the Rays.