White Sox Can't Clinch Series Against Guardians In Game 4

The Chicago White Sox couldn’t complete the job in Game 4. 

The White Sox were looking to win their first home clinching postseason game in 120 years. But they fell to the Guardians for the second consecutive day. The South Siders were defeated by a score of 9-5 in Game 4 on Thursday evening at Rate Field. 

Chicago had two opportunities to end this series in both Game 3 and Game 4 in front of a sold-out crowd. The team couldn’t get it done. The White Sox lost 9-4 on Wednesday and then lost 9-5 on Thursday. 

The White Sox struck first in the bottom of the third inning. Munetaka Murakami walked with the bases loaded, and Sam Antonacci came off the bench as a pinch hitter to bring in another run on a sacrifice fly. Chicago was able to get to rookie sensation Parker Messick, who allowed two runs on two hits with four walks and five strikeouts across 2 ⅔ innings. 

But every time the White Sox scored, the Guardians would answer. 

The first instance came in the top of the fifth inning. Erick Fedde allowed a home run to Patrick Bailey to lead off that inning and then allowed a single to Steven Kwan two batters later before being replaced by Jordan Hicks. Hicks then allowed a go-ahead two-run home run to Jose Ramirez. 

The White Sox retook the lead in the bottom half of that frame on a hit-by-pitch from Antonacci and a sacrifice fly from Brenton Doyle. However, the Guardians didn’t stay behind for long, as they had a six-run sixth inning that essentially put the game out of reach. 

Anthony Kay and Grant Taylor combined to record one out while allowing six runs on five hits with two walks. After Angel Martinez was hit by a pitch, Travis Bazzana brought him in on a double, Bailey singled, Brayan Rocchio and Steven Kwan both drew walks, and Ramirez, Chase DeLauter, and Jo Adell all drove in runs to extend the lead. 

The White Sox were hoping to take care of business on Wednesday or Thursday to win this series. Instead, Chicago will now head back to Cleveland for a pivotal win or go home Game 5 on Saturday evening. 

The Guardians have the momentum in this series now after taking both games in Chicago this week. But the White Sox will look to stop that momentum in Game 5 and advance to the American League Championship Series for the first time in 2005. 

Game 5 is set for Saturday at 7:00 p.m. CST.