Once again, the White Sox are holding a watch party at the Ramova, and once again, Josh will be livestreaming his half of the Sox Machine Podcast from the venue. Join us at 3:30 p.m. on our YouTube channel:
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Back when a sizable chunk of White Sox fans took the threat of relocation seriously, rather than Jerry Reinsdorf's only idea for a leverage ploy, I liked to compare the situations of the White Sox and Guardians, with regards to the risks of moving from the third-largest market in the nation to a considerably smaller one.
The exercise was to imagine what it would be like if the White Sox had a Guardians-like run of success. What would they draw if they won the AL Central four out of the last five years, and reached the postseason in eight of the last 11?
Conversely, what if the Guardians were mired in the White Sox's pitiful run, with only one real postseason appearance since 2008, and four 100-loss seasons during that time?
The Guardians only outdrew the White Sox by 15,000 fans this season despite having built way more credibility as a respectable team, and now there's this tale of two cities:
The average price for Game 3 of the ALDS could end up as the most expensive White Sox ticket in five years on TickPick, as other ticket broker sites anticipate record prices. https://t.co/tZ97ysLt39
— Sun-Times Sports (@suntimes_sports) October 5, 2026
Get in the door for as little as $59 tomorrow.
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) October 4, 2026
Be loud and wear red! 🔴#GuardsBall | #StandGuard pic.twitter.com/7RcybhHsbR
Cleveland is the 19th-largest market in the nation. This is why leagues typically don't trade down.
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The White Sox are rolling with Anthony Kay to open Game 2. Given that he pitched in Game 1, he is expected to open, rather than start, with the plan for Sean Burke to pick up a big chunk of innings somewhere down the line.
Kay had a good time against the Guardians during the regular season, posting a 1.35 ERA over 20 innings covering four starts. Cleveland batted just .171/.266/.229 against him, so between his success and giving him an opportunity to prepare for a game as a starter, you can see why the White Sox would think he'd give them a good chance to start the game on solid ground.
Gavin Williams is going for Cleveland, and on the surface, White Sox hitters fared decently against him four starts, tagging him for nine runs over 20⅓ innings. Williams threw 184⅓ innings on the season, but he never completed six against the White Sox.
One catch is that the White Sox generally didn't start damaging him until four innings were in the books:
- First four innings: .178/.281/.196
- Afterward: .368/.409/.684
Williams' last two starts against the White Sox demonstrate the phenomenon. In a duel against Kay on Aug. 8, Williams cruised through five innings of one-hit ball, only to hit a wall by giving up the first two runs on a five-run sixth. More recently on Sept. 14, it took Tristan Peters' 18-pitch walk to get Williams out of a scoreless game in the sixth, after which the floodgates opened for six-run sixth.
Chances are the White Sox won't get that much runway to build an attack against him, so let's see if their sudden success against Hunter Brown gave them any ideas.
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First Pitch: White Sox at Guardians
TV: TBS and HBO Max
Lineups:
| White Sox | Guardians | |
|---|---|---|
| Sam Antonacci, LF | 1 | Steven Kwan, CF |
| Kyle Teel, C | 2 | José Ramírez, 3B |
| Miguel Vargas, 3B | 3 | Chase DeLauter, RF |
| Munetaka Murakami, 1B | 4 | Jo Adell, DH |
| Andrew Benintendi, DH | 5 | Nathaniel Lowe, 1B |
| Tristan Peters, CF | 6 | Angel Martínez, LF |
| Braden Montgomery, RF | 7 | Travis Bazzana, 2B |
| Chase Meidroth, 2B | 8 | Patrick Bailey, C |
| Colson Montgomery, SS | 9 | Brayan Rocchio, SS |
| Anthony Kay | SP | Gavin Williams |
