Guardians Finish the Comeback: 21 Strikeouts, a Ramírez Laser and a 2-0 Game 5 Win Send Cleveland to the ALCS

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2026

The Guardians are going to the ALCS. Cleveland finished one of the great comebacks in franchise history Saturday night at Progressive Field, blanking the Chicago White Sox 2-0 in a winner-take-all Game 5 to take the series 3-2 — after dropping the first two games on its own field. Gavin Williams authored the night: 5 2/3 scoreless innings, a dozen strikeouts, and a no-hit bid that survived until two outs in the sixth. José Ramírez supplied all the offense with one swing. And a bullpen that simply could not miss closed the door on Chicago’s season.

02 Williams ties the franchise record — and flirts with a no-hitter

Gavin Williams walked off the mound in the sixth inning of a winner-take-all to a roar, and the numbers tell you why. The right-hander carved up the White Sox for 12 strikeouts across 5 2/3 scoreless innings, tying Charles Nagy’s Cleveland single-game postseason record — set in Game 4 of the 1996 ALDS against the Baltimore Orioles — as the Beacon Journal reported Saturday night. He allowed one hit, two walks and one hit batsman on 94 pitches, 65 of them strikes, and generated 22 swings and misses. For a 14-8, 3.76 ERA regular-season workhorse, it was the start of his life.

The no-hit bid was real. Williams took it to two outs in the sixth before Kyle Teel looped a single into right field — the hit coming right after Colson Montgomery was hit by a pitch and Miguel Vargas walked to load the bases, according to the Beacon Journal’s pitch-by-pitch account. Cleveland went to the bullpen, and Erik Sabrowski struck out Munetaka Murakami to escape the jam and close the book on Williams’ night.

The outing followed a Game 2 gem: 11 strikeouts on Monday, Oct. 5 in a 4-3 loss, which the Beacon Journal noted tied Bartolo Colón for the second-most strikeouts in club playoff history. That means Williams now owns two of the five double-digit strikeout performances in Cleveland postseason history — and both came in the same series. If you followed our in-game coverage Saturday night, you watched this sixth inning unfold in real time — the bases-loaded escape that decided everything.

03 Two nights earlier, he was the closer

The context makes the start absurd. On Thursday night in Chicago, Williams made his first career relief appearance and helped seal the Guardians’ 9-5 Game 4 win, the Beacon Journal reported — the victory that forced Game 5. Two days later, he became just the third pitcher in postseason history to record the last out of a game and then start the following game with his team facing elimination in both.

His 24 strikeouts across the three games tied for the second-most in a best-of-five postseason series — after a regular season in which he fanned 248 batters, per Sports Illustrated. On the biggest night of Cleveland’s season, the Guardians asked their most electric arm to do something pitchers almost never do, and he made it look routine.

The full story of the Chicago comeback is in our coverage of the series-forcing Game 4 win — the win that set Saturday night up.

04 The Ramírez laser

All of Williams’ brilliance would have been theater without José Ramírez. After Steven Kwan singled to open the bottom of the fourth, Ramírez lined a two-run home run just over the right-field wall, putting Cleveland ahead 2-0 and — as the Beacon Journal’s live coverage noted — sending Progressive Field into bedlam.

The pitch was the story. It measured 8.88 inches off the ground — the lowest pitch anyone has hit for a postseason home run in the pitch-tracking era, dating to 2008, and the lowest of Ramírez’s career. A golf swing for the ages from a seven-time All-Star third baseman who keeps rewriting the October chapters of his Cleveland legacy.

The homer came two nights after Ramírez buried Chicago in Game 4 with a two-run triple in the eighth inning at Rate Field, per Field Level Media. White Sox starter Sean Burke had been cruising — five innings, 71 pitches — before manager Will Venable pulled him for reliever Sean Newcomb, a move Sports Illustrated called confounding. Newcomb threw two scoreless frames, but the damage was done.

05 21 strikeouts — a record for the record book

The final 10 outs belonged to the bullpen, and it was near-perfect. Sabrowski struck out the lone batter he faced — Murakami, with the bases loaded in the sixth. It was, as the Beacon Journal’s live coverage wrote, “the biggest strikeout of the entire year for the Guardians.” Hunter Gaddis handled the seventh. And Cade Smith entered in the eighth with one out after Sam Antonacci’s bloop single and recorded a five-out save, retiring Teel and Vargas to end the eighth before slamming the door in the ninth.

The final 10 outs came with nine strikeouts. The staff total for the night — 21 — is the most strikeouts in a nine-inning game in MLB history, regular season or playoffs, per ESPN Insights, as Sports Illustrated reported. It broke Cleveland’s own record of 19, set in the Game 3 win earlier in the series.

Chicago managed just three hits and put only nine balls in play all night, whiffing 75 times over the five games of the series. When the last out was recorded, the Beacon Journal’s live blog wrote that “Progressive Field is doing absolutely nuts” — Cleveland had written itself into the record book twice: 12 strikeouts from its starter, 21 from its staff.

06 A brutal end to a remarkable season

This was a brutal way for Chicago to go out. Cleveland is also now the fourth team in history to win a best-of-five series after losing the first two games on their home field. The White Sox’s sole chance with runners in scoring position all night came in that fateful sixth — bases loaded, two outs, Murakami struck out looking at a night that simply would not bend their way.

And yet the White Sox should be proud of how they got here. They went from three consecutive 100-loss seasons to taking the Guardians to an elimination game in the ALDS — and as Sports Illustrated noted, no one saw that coming. Their youth got the best of them on the biggest night. The future is still bright on the South Side.

07 Tampa Bay awaits

Now the Guardians head to Tampa, where the Rays — fresh off sweeping the Yankees — await in the ALCS. Game 1 is Monday night, Oct. 12, the Beacon Journal confirmed.

The stakes are bigger than a pennant. Cleveland is seeking its first World Series trip since 2016, and the franchise hasn’t won the title since 1948 — the longest drought among MLB teams. Twenty-one strikeouts won’t guarantee the next chapter of October, but on Saturday night at Progressive Field, the Guardians announced they’re done being a footnote in it.

5 2/3 scoreless innings, 12 strikeouts — tying Charles Nagy’s franchise single-game postseason record (Game 4, 1996 ALDS vs. Orioles). One hit, 2 walks, 1 hit batsman; 94 pitches, 65 strikes; 22 swings and misses. No-hit bid ended on Kyle Teel’s two-out single in the 6th. Two-run homer in the 4th off Sean Burke — the pitch measured 8.88 inches off the ground, the lowest for a postseason home run in the pitch-tracking era (since 2008) and the lowest of Ramírez’s career. An all-time MLB record for a nine-inning game, regular season or playoffs (per ESPN Insights). Broke Cleveland’s own mark of 19 set in the Game 3 win. Sabrowski, Hunter Gaddis and Cade Smith combined for the final 10 outs with 9 strikeouts; Smith recorded a five-out save. Cleveland is also now the fourth team in history to win a best-of-five series after losing the first two games on their home field. The White Sox managed just 3 hits and 9 balls in play in Game 5, striking out 75 times over the series.