Guardians complete comeback, strike out White Sox 21 times to reach ALCS

CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Guardians struck out the Chicago White Sox 21 times, a postseason record for a nine-inning game, and won 2-0 Saturday night to complete a comeback from an 0-2 deficit in their American League Division Series.

Jose Ramirez hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning and starter Gavin Williams struck out 12 over 5.2 innings as the Guardians advanced to the AL Championship Series against the Tampa Bay Rays, which begins Monday night.

"Our pitchers are incredible. We asked a ton of them this whole series," Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said. "When you miss bats, they can't get anything going."

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Guardians pitchers set a record for strikeouts in a game of no more than nine innings, regular season or postseason, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

The White Sox managed just three hits and put only nine balls in play, finishing the series with 75 strikeouts and a .185 batting average.

"We wanted it so bad, it hurts," Chicago catcher Kyle Teel said.

Two days after saving Game 4, Williams became just the third pitcher in postseason history to get the last out of a game and start the following game when his team faced elimination in both.

He did not allow a hit until Teel looped a single into right field with two outs in the sixth inning.

"He can be that quiet guy, but he's that silent killer. He's going to go and do his best," Ramirez said of Williams through an interpreter.

After a walk loaded the bases later in the sixth, reliever Erik Sabrowski struck out Munetaka Murakami on a foul tip.

Hunter Gaddis followed with four outs, and Cade Smith finished for his first career five-out save, striking out the side in the ninth.

Ramirez's home run came on a knuckle-curve from Sean Burke that was 0.74 feet above the ground, the lowest pitch hit for a postseason home run since MLB Statcast started tracking in 2008.

"He made the right pitch in the right spot," Teel said. "It was a ball in the dirt and he just hit it out."

Burke took responsibility for the pitch.

"Obviously, it came down to one pitch and one mistake I made today," Burke said. "He's a really good player. He's probably going to be in the Hall of Fame some day. But it's frustrating."

Chicago became the first team to reach the playoffs after three straight 100-loss seasons and swept Houston in the wild card round.

The White Sox won the first two games of the ALDS on the road but lost the next three.

White Sox manager Will Venable said the team was disappointed but could look at what the group accomplished.

Murakami and Andrew Benintendi struck out four times each in Game 5, while Teel and Chase Meidroth struck out three times apiece.

"My intent was to win this game, win this series and fly to Tampa," Murakami said through an interpreter. "It's obviously disappointing. Losing this one, there is a lot to learn from it."

Cleveland became just the 11th team to win a best-of-five series among the 96 that fell behind 0-2, and the first since the 2017 New York Yankees.

The Guardians open the ALCS in Tampa Bay on Monday, seeking their first World Series trip since 2016.

The franchise has not won the title since 1948, the longest drought among MLB teams.

Tampa Bay went 5-1 against Cleveland during the regular season, including a three-game sweep at home in July.

With files from CBC News, Sportsnet and The Globe and Mail