White Sox beat Guardians 3-0 in Game 1 of ALDS behind Murakami homer, 3-hitter
Chicago White Sox's Munetaka Murakami reacts after hitting a two-run home run against the Cleveland Guardians during the fourth inning in Game 1 of baseball's American League Division Series, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Phil Long)
CLEVELAND (AP) — Munetaka Murakami hit a two-run homer, five Chicago pitchers combined for a three-hitter and the White Sox beat the Cleveland Guardians 3-0 in Game 1 of their AL Division Series on Saturday.
Colson Montgomery added an RBI double for the White Sox, who have won nine of their last 11 games dating back to the regular season. Chicago advanced to the division series after sweeping Houston in the wild card series.
Cleveland — which won its third straight AL Central title by one game over the White Sox — had the bases loaded with two outs the third and fourth innings, but couldn’t get any runs across.
You must be a member to read this story.
Join our family of readers starting at $5 for your first month and support local, unbiased journalism.
Click here to see your options for becoming a subscriber.
Register to comment
Click here create a free account for posting comments.
Note that free accounts do not include access to premium content on this site.
I am anchor
White Sox beat Guardians 3-0 in Game 1 of ALDS behind Murakami homer, 3-hitter
Chicago White Sox's Munetaka Murakami reacts after hitting a two-run home run against the Cleveland Guardians during the fourth inning in Game 1 of baseball's American League Division Series, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Phil Long)
Posted
By JOE REEDY
CLEVELAND (AP) — Munetaka Murakami hit a two-run homer, five Chicago pitchers combined for a three-hitter and the White Sox beat the Cleveland Guardians 3-0 in Game 1 of their AL Division Series on Saturday.
Colson Montgomery added an RBI double for the White Sox, who have won nine of their last 11 games dating back to the regular season. Chicago advanced to the division series after sweeping Houston in the wild card series.
Cleveland — which won its third straight AL Central title by one game over the White Sox — had the bases loaded with two outs the third and fourth innings, but couldn’t get any runs across.
The White Sox went with a bullpen game for the second time in three postseason contests. It worked again as the pitchers combined for 12 strikeouts.
Bryan Hudson (1-0) got the win and Grant Taylor got the save, going four innings and striking out six while allowing two hits.
Starter Hagen Smith retired the first eight Cleveland hitters before walking Brayan Rocchio, Steven Kwan and José Ramírez to load the bases with two outs in the third. Bryan Hudson came in and got Chase DeLauter to line out to left.
The Guardians didn’t get their first hit until Travis Bazzana's line-drive double down the right-field line with two outs in the fourth. Austin Hedges drew a walk to load the bases again before Rocchio lined out to right.
After Miguel Vargas lined a base hit to left to lead off the fourth, Murakami drove a first-pitch elevated sinker 440 feet into the right-field stands for his first postseason home run.
Montgomery extended the advantage to 3-0 in the seventh with a double down the left-field line to drive in Kyle Teel.
Cleveland starter Parker Messick (0-1) allowed two runs on four hits in 4 1/3 innings. The rookie left-hander struck out six and walked two.
Game 2 is Monday afternoon at Progressive Field. The series shifts to Chicago for Game 3 on Wednesday.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here