A postseason home game wasn’t guaranteed to these White Sox, but now they can clinch with one

Entering the postseason as the third wild card team with no home games guaranteed, the initial goal was for the White Sox to lock in at least one October date at Rate Field to reward a fan base that had been starving for a team that was not just competitive, but worth investing time, money and emotion.

That date arrives today, but because the White Sox won both games of the Wild Card Series against Houston and the first two games of the ALCS at Progressive Field, the goals are suddenly a lot more grandiose:

1. Become the first White Sox team in 120 years to clinch a postseason series at home.
2. Do so without using Grant Taylor.

The first one is obvious. The White Sox have never been in a position like this, where they get to play the good kind of elimination game at a Comiskey Park. Here's the franchise's history with home playoff series since Major League Baseball expanded the postseason beyond the World Series.

1983 ALCS: Came home tied 1-1 with Baltimore, but lost Games 3 and 4.

1993 ALCS: Lost first two games at home; returned home for Game 6 trailing 3-2 and lost.

2000 ALDS: Lost the first two games at home, ended up being swept in Seattle.

2005 Postseason: Had home field advantage entire way and clinched each series on the road in three, five and four games.

2008 ALDS: Came home trailing Tampa Bay 2-0, won Game 3 but lost Game 4.

2021 ALDS: Ditto, except their opponent was Houston.

So yeah, they've never had even one opportunity to clinch. Being up 2-0 against the Cleveland Guardians means the White Sox will have multiple opportunities to clinch, although the hope is that a backup won't be necessary.

The second goal reads like an unnecessary degree-of-difficulty multiplier, except the idea is to simplify Will Venable's calculus. Taylor has been his best reliever all season, especially when a strikeout is needed, so it makes sense that if a game is on the line, Taylor is the one he wants on the mound, because the only thing a manager can truly control during a game is whether he used the best available options at times when they had a chance to matter.

But after pushing Taylor into unprecedented story as a reliever with four innings in Game 1, Venable got away with bringing him back for Game 2. Sure, he recorded four outs on seven pitches, but he was a couple feet of carry away from giving up a game-tying two-run shot to Jo Adell. Instead, it banged off Progressive Field's 19-foot wall in left center for a triple, and that was the last damage the Guardians could do against him, though not for a lack of trying.

The Guardians swung six times at Taylor's pitches and produced five hard-hit balls without a whiff:

• Jo Adell 108.2 mph triple
• Nathaniel Lowe 96.1 flyout
• Angel Martínez 95.9 mph groundout
• Travis Bazzana 99.3 mph flyout
• Patrick Bailey 103.5 mph flyout

Will Taylor look any sharper two days later after an appearance that required one-fifth of the pitches? Quite possibly, but given that Rate Field is less likely to hold a deep flyball between the alleys than Progressive Field, I wouldn't mind the White Sox looking elsewhere for those final outs. Jordan Hicks seems like a suitable alternate in the sense that he gets strikeouts while being split neutral. He's more likely to issue a walk in the ninth, but the hope is that with a clean inning, the Sox will be able to absorb one.

Sean Newcomb will not be available in the late innings because he's opening this one, and with Davis Martin, David Sandlin and Erick Fedde all being unused thus far, Venable has his choice of right-handed complements afterward.

Of course, if the White Sox want to rock Cleveland opener Daniel Espino and run up the score to the point that the ninth inning is purely a coronation, they're welcome to choose that path, too.

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Another benefit of winning Game 3 today besides the obvious: A victory would also theoretically provide the greatest amount of time between Tommy Pham moments, because it's been a weird few days for a guy who wasn't around until September, and is one of the last guys on the postseason roster.

A quick summary: Pham hit a deep drive in Game 1 that had all the characteristics of a homer in terms of data, but died in Angel Martínez's glove against the wall and instead turned into a double play. Pham fumed about that afterward, which isn't surprising given his history of venting and interest in analytics.

But then Rob Manfred visited Progressive Field during Game 2, and Pham used the opportunity to revisit the topic, per Jeff Agrest:

Pham left his batting-practice session to ask Manfred an important question:

‘‘Rob, what’s going on with the balls?’’

‘‘What balls?’’ Manfred replied.

‘‘I can’t be hitting no-doubters, man, and not helping them in getting out,’’ Pham said, probably half-joking and half-serious. ‘‘How am I supposed to get a job next year if that ball don’t go out?’’

The question drew laughter from Manfred and other onlookers, but it was clear what Pham still had on his mind.

Because Pham has a history of disproportionate intensity about topics others may find trivial, the story was aggregated on social media by various outlets, which is how Pham found it.

The thing is, he did take a question from Jesse Rogers during the workout at Rate Field on Tuesday, and he just provided more of what Agrest called "probably half-joking and half-serious."

It all makes Pham a fascinating presence on an otherwise happy-go-lucky White Sox roster. He's played for 10 teams over 13 years, including two separate stints for two organizations. If he were a singular clubhouse presence, you'd think he'd hang around one place a longer amount of time. Then again, if he were truly a problem, the league would've been content to let him wash out years ago. Perhaps it all makes sense in the clubhouse, but some on-field production would make it a lot easier for those who aren't similarly wired to understand the appeal.