White Sox 6, Guardians 5: Sam Antonacci saves the day

Grant Taylor and Seranthony Dominguez owe Sam Antonacci a steak dinner.

Capping off a ninth inning that felt like riding Raging Bull in the front row, the Chicago White Sox spark plug delivered a two-run walk-off single against Cleveland mighty closer, Cade Smith. In one of the wildest games of the season, the White Sox beat the Cleveland Guardians, 6-5.

Making his long-awaited 2026 debut in the 77th game of the season, Kyle Teel was arriving at the right time. With only a game separating the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Guardians for first place in the AL Central, there was extra juice for this series. Any internal upgrades are welcome as the White Sox front office continues to contemplate its next moves.

Teel had to help his battery mate get out of the danger zone early. Anthony Kay allowed three of the first four hitters to reach, putting him in a bases-loaded, one-out bind, but the southpaw hunkered down to strike out Kyle Manzardo and Gabriel Arias.

"Got to lead the league in hitting guys on their toe," Kay joked. "Stuff was good, just knew that I had to trust it in the zone and keep attacking guys and keep making good pitches."

In the second inning, Teel stepped into the batter’s box for his first plate appearance of the season. He worked the count full, but Cleveland’s starting pitcher Gavin Williams got Teel to whiff on a down-and-in sweeper.

With Teel getting his feet wet, his teammates picked him up later that inning. Williams was very tough early, as visibility was an issue with the sun setting and l99 mph pitches often coming in. But Chase Meidroth lined a single to right field, and Braden Montgomery followed the same strategy with a liner down the left-field line. Cleveland’s outfield was shifted to pull, so Montgomery’s batted ball rolled to the wall, and Meidroth hustled to score from first base.

Up 1-0, the White Sox continued to play small ball successfully against Williams in the third inning. Luisangel Acuña slapped a single to right field and picked up his 13th stolen base of the season when swiping second. Sam Antonacci followed that up with a tough nine-pitch walk, letting out a loud yell after ball four. With the table set for Miguel Vargas, the White Sox had a stew brewing.

Vargas lined a single to center field that was hit hard enough for Acuña to hesitate and take a step back towards second base. When Acuña realized it was landing for a hit, he tried to turn on the jets and was waved home by third base coach Justin Jirschele. Guardians center fielder Petey Halpin made the throw to home, forcing catcher Austin Hedges to field it on a short hop, and apply the tag on Acuña in time. White Sox manager Will Venable challenged, hoping for an illegal blocking-of-home-plate ruling. Alas, the replay offices in New York called the play legal.

But on Halpin’s throw to home, both Antonacci and Vargas advanced into scoring position. Next was Andrew Benintendi, and he pulled through with another single to plate Antonacci, giving the White Sox a 2-0 lead. That’s when the damage stopped, as Williams struck out Teel and Colson Montgomery consecutively. During Teel’s at-bat, he challenged a strike call that was confirmed, and the White Sox were out of ABS challenges by the third inning.

That two-run cushion was enough for Kay, who put together one of his best starts of the season. Leaning on his sweeper, Cleveland struggled to make contact as they whiffed 53 percent of the time. They couldn’t eliminate any of Kay’s offerings as he threw six different pitches at least 10 times. After walking Manzardo in the sixth inning, White Sox pitching coach Zach Bove visited Kay on the mound to buy time for the bullpen to get warm. Kay responded by striking out Arias.

On a season high of 101 pitches, Kay finished with a line of 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, and 8 K. Then in the bottom half, manager Will Venable pinch-hit Randal Grichuk for Benintendi against lefty reliever Tim Herrin. That move paid off as Grichuk hit a solo home run, his eighth of the season, to give the White Sox a 3-0 lead.

Grant Taylor was the first reliever out of the bullpen and was looking to bounce back after two turbulent outings. It didn’t start great as he walked Steven Kwan and allowed a single to Daniel Schneemann. To make matters worse, Taylor bounced a curveball in front of home plate that got away from Teel to move runners into scoring position with no outs.

Taylor struck out Halpin, but he walked Travis Bazzana to load the bases. Then stress levels became uncomfortably high when Kahlil Watson singled to right field. That base hit scored two runs, and suddenly it was a one-run game. Watson then stole second base as Teel didn’t want to risk a throw with a runner on third base, but Taylor was able to get his second strikeout off his signature curveball to retire Brayan Rocchio.

Ahead 1-2 in the count, veteran TV announcer Steve Stone advocated for Taylor throwing a face-high fastball to get Rhys Hoskins chasing. But Taylor threw his heater too low, and Hoskins made solid contact for a game-tying RBI single.

For the second straight game, with plenty of cushion to work with and facing the bottom of the order, the White Sox bullpen failed. Bryan Hudson relieved Taylor and was able to keep the game tied as he struck out Manzardo.

"With the bullpen being so good up front in this first part of the season, you know they are not going to be perfect every day," Venable said. "You are depending on those guys to go out and shut the door. They have done a good job with that to this point. They have things they are going to work on and be able to come back and take advantage of the next opportunity."

But the White Sox rookies rallied in the bottom half. Braden Montgomery hit his second double of the night to lead things off, and advanced to third when Acuña flied out to right field. With two outs, Antonacci’s bat exploded when making contact. That was enough to distract Hoskins, who couldn’t field the grounder. In the midst of the chaos, Montgomery scored to give the White Sox a 4-3 lead.

In the eighth inning, Hudson kept the ship steady as he picked up two more strikeouts in a scoreless frame. Smith, Cleveland's closer, entered the game in the bottom half and made quick work of Grichuk, Teel, and Colson Montgomery, who earned himself the golden sombrero.

Looking for someone to close the game, Venable decided to give Seranthony Domínguez the ball, even though he was pitching for the third time in four games.

Naturally, Domínguez walked the leadoff hitter in Bazzana, and then hell broke loose. Bazzana had a running start on his stolen base attempt because Domínguez paid no attention to him, then spiked a pitch that Teel tried to backhand, but ended up at the backstop. Bazzana raced all the way over to third base.

With no outs, the infield had to play in, but it didn’t matter. Patrick Bailey, who was hitting .181, singled to right field, plating Bazzana. Now tied, Domínguez continued to pour more gasoline on the fire he started by allowing a double to Rocchio, putting runners on second and third with still nobody out.

"It’s a tough moment for me right now; I couldn’t get a save yesterday. I couldn’t get a save today," Domínguez said. "I think we can keep working on something [mechanical] that we see today. I take a look tomorrow and see what we can do to get better."

Before parting, Domínguez struck out Hoskins to at least get one out. Venable called for Chris Murphy, who got Manzardo to hit a medium fly to center field. Tristan Peters parked underneath the flyout and was tested by Bailey, who tagged up at third base. Peters' throw skipped along the mound, Teel made a nice pick, and at first Bailey was called out at home. Alas, Cleveland challenged the call, and the replay center had a clear view of Bailey touching home plate before Teel’s tag.

"It was frustrating," Peters said. "My throw could have been better. I was trying to not do too much with the throw, sail it or anything like that. It hit the mound. Gotta be a better throw."

Now down 5-4 in the ninth inning, Cleveland stuck with Smith to close it out. Meidroth led it off by flying out to right field, but Braden Montgomery worked a walk to give the White Sox some life. Then Peters was next, and on a check swing more appropriate for cricket, his bouncing grounder hit the chalk past third base. A little batted ball good luck gave Peters a double and the White Sox were cooking with the tying run on third, and the winning run on second with just one out.

"It’s falling back on your preparation," Montgomery said of his feeling in late and close game. "You have done your best to give yourself the best chance at success in moments like those. You don’t panic. We play a lot of games. You either execute or you don’t. And so you really just put your best foot forward and live with the results and be convicted in what you’re doing."

Venable had Jacob Gonzalez pinch-hit for Acuna, hoping for a fly ball. Instead, Gonzalez struck out. Now with two outs and despair in the air, the game had once again found Antonacci.

On a first-pitch fastball that was high out of the zone, Antonacci barreled it up for a single to center field. Schneemann made a terrific throw to home plate, but Peters pulled off a textbook slide at home plate. He was initially ruled safe, and this time replay was on Peters' side, and fireworks filled the air. The White Sox rookies pulled through.

"It's fun for like a few minutes and then you've got a game to prepare for the next day," Antonacci said. "Just worried about [Parker] Messick, I think, has the ball tomorrow. So, just gameplanning against him. Just good to get a win. I think we were on a three-game skid there. So just getting one and moving the ball forward."

Once again, the White Sox and Guardians are tied for first place in the AL Central. In the most wild way possible.

Game Notes

• Sam Antonacci went 2-for-4 with a walk and three RBI. He's batting .291 with a .813 OPS
• Braden Montgomery was 2-for-3 with two doubles and a walk
• Both teams combined to strikeout 28 times.

Record: 40-37 | Box Score | StatCast