CLEVELAND — Nothing about this October makes sense, and the White Sox wouldn't have it any other way. The first team in baseball history to reach the postseason after three straight 100-loss seasons strolled into Progressive Field on Saturday and blanked the AL Central champions 3-0 in Game 1 of the ALDS. Munetaka Murakami did the damage, demolishing a first-pitch sinker from rookie starter Parker Messick for a two-run fourth-inning homer. The 26-year-old former NPB record holder now has 35 in his first MLB season, and October hasn't fazed him.
Insurance arrived in the strangest way. Colson Montgomery's slow seventh-inning chopper stayed fair up the third-base line, and Kyle Teel — waved home from first — was beaten by the throw to the plate. But catcher Austin Hedges couldn't hold the ball, and it was 3-0. Cleveland managed just three hits all afternoon. Messick was gone by the fifth, Grant Taylor struck out Jo Adell to end the eighth, and the White Sox have yet to trail for a single pitch this October.
The Guardians edged Chicago by a game for the AL Central crown, 85 wins to 84. Now the White Sox — who swept Houston for their first playoff series win since 2005 — are 3-0 in the postseason. Game 2 is Monday at 5 p.m. ET back in Cleveland, and the walls are closing in.
