The Chicago White Sox have been eliminated from the playoffs, with the Cleveland Guardians scoring a 2-0 victory on Saturday night. Gavin Williams pitched a stellar game for the Guardians, allowing just one hit and striking out 12 batters in his third appearance in the series, and Jose Ramirez h it a two-run home run that gave Cleveland all the offense they needed in the victory. According to MLB’s Sarah Langs, Williams’ 12 strikeouts in the game were the second-most of any pitcher in a winner-take-all game in MLB history, trailing only the 13 batters Tarik Skubal struck out for the Detroit Tigers in Game 5 of the 2025 ALDS. Just days after the White Sox struck out 19 times, an MLB record for a nine-inning playoff game, they struck out a staggering 21 times to break the record again, this time as they were eliminated from the playoffs. Sean Burke threw five innings and gave up two runs on a two-run home run to Ramirez, striking out four batters. After a taut first three innings of the contest, Cleveland came through in a big way in the bottom of the fourth inning, and of course it was Ramirez doing the honors. With a runner on first and no outs, he golfed a pitch from Burke that was less than a foot off the ground into the bleachers, giving the Guardians a 2-0 lead. Williams kept the White Sox off the board through five innings, but things changed in the sixth. In that inning, the White Sox got by far their best scoring opportunity of the night, as Colson Montgomery was hit by a pitch and Kyle Teel singled to left, the first hit Williams had allowed the entire game. Miguel Vargas then coaxed a walk, loading the bases and chasing Williams from the game with two outs. Murakami then faced Cleveland reliever Erik Sabrowski, but he struck out on a fastball on the low end of the strike zone, stranding three runners and keeping the Guardians’ lead intact. Tristan Peters tried to get another rally attempted started in the seventh inning, lacing a one-out single into right field. Hunter Gaddis then struck out Chase Meidroth and Colson Montgomery to slam the door on the threat, leaving Cleveland six outs away from advancing. In the eighth inning, Sam Antonacci notched a single to chase Gaddis from the game, and the Guardians turned to Cade Smith. He struck out Teel for the second out and then got Vargas to pop out for the third out. Petey Halpin laced a double off the right field wall to lead off the eighth inning, and Steven Kwan then drew a walk and Ramirez was intentionally walked to load the bases. Grant Taylor was then summoned into the game, inducing groundballs from Chase DeLauter and Jo Adell to keep the deficit at two runs heading to the ninth. Unfortunately the White Sox couldn’t capitalize, with Smith striking out the side in the ninth inning to eliminate Chicago from the postseason. The Guardians will now face the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Championship Series, which will get underway on Monday. ...read more read less