There is certainly no love lost between the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Guardians. With the AL Central race coming down to the final two games, the Guardians may have just given the White Sox some extra bulletin-board material.
With just two games remaining in the regular season, the Guardians hold a one-game lead over the White Sox in the AL Central. But Chicago has gotten the better of Cleveland in their 13 head-to-head matchups, going 7-6 and securing the tiebreaker advantage.
Nearly every game between the two teams has been a battle. The White Sox have outscored the Guardians by just one run across those 13 games, 58-57, with 11 decided by three runs or fewer.
Both teams were popping champagne Thursday after punching their tickets to October just hours apart. The White Sox cruised past the Kansas City Royals 9-1 at Kauffman Stadium, while the Guardians shut out the Boston Red Sox 1-0 at Fenway Park.
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During the Guardians’ locker room celebration, however, outfielder Angel Martínez made his feelings about the division rival White Sox known. He was caught on camera shouting, “fuck the Sox.”
One day later, the White Sox handled business against the Colorado Rockies, cruising to a 9-1 victory at home behind a two-home-run performance from Munetaka Murakami. Just 512 miles away in Kansas City, the Guardians found themselves in a dogfight with the Royals, fighting to hold onto their one-game lead in the AL Central.
With the score tied at seven in the top of the ninth, Cleveland began mounting a rally — and it did so almost entirely through free passes. Nathaniel Lowe led off the inning with a walk, and three batters later, Patrick Bailey and Bryan Rocchio drew back-to-back walks to load the bases.
The Royals were one out away from escaping the jam when José Ramírez drew the fourth walk of the inning, bringing Bailey home with the go-ahead run. Chase DeLauter followed with another free pass to push Cleveland’s lead to 9-7, and Petey Halpin walked to make it 10-7.
Angel Martínez finally delivered the first hit of the inning, clearing the bases with a two-run double to give the Guardians a five-run lead. Cleveland scored five runs in the inning despite recording just one hit while drawing six walks.
When the dust settled, the Guardians’ social media team posted the sequence with a caption poking a jab at their division rivals that said: “White Sox fans are gonna hate this lol.”
The White Sox already have no shortage of extra motivation heading into the final weekend. Win the division, and Chicago would earn a bye through the Wild Card Series along with home-field advantage in the ALDS. Fall short, and the White Sox would have to navigate the Wild Card round before advancing to the Division Series.
But if the Guardians want to give the White Sox a little more bulletin-board material before the biggest two games of the season, Chicago certainly won’t complain. Even if Cleveland manages to hang on to their division lead, receipts will be kept if the two teams cross paths again in October.
