One Step From the World Series: Guardians Knock Out White Sox in Dramatic Comeback
The Guardians rallied from a 2-0 series deficit against the White Sox to win Game 5 on Saturday night and advance to the ALCS.
by Ron Ledgard | Oct. 10, 2026 | 11:30 PM
Photographed by Matthew Chasney
The Guardians are going back to the American League Championship Series.
They got there the hard way. Cleveland lost the first two at Progressive Field — shut out in the opener — then won both in Chicago to force a Game 5 at home. Only 11 of the 96 teams that have fallen behind 0-2 in a best-of-five have come back from it.
Gavin Williams did most of the work Saturday, striking out 12 and carrying a no-hitter into the sixth. José Ramírez did the rest, golfing a knuckle-curve into the seats in the fourth — a pitch 0.74 feet off the ground, the lowest ever hit for a postseason home run since tracking began in 2008. Cade Smith struck out the side in the ninth to finish a five-out save. Guardians 2, White Sox 0.
Williams had recorded the final out of Game 4 two nights earlier. He’s the third pitcher in postseason history to close one elimination game and start the next.
Next comes the American League’s No. 1 seed. ALCS Game 1 is Monday at 8 p.m. at Tropicana Field. In the National League, the Dodgers and Brewers open the NLCS tonight, with Los Angeles going for a third consecutive World Series title.
Game schedule, TV times and broadcast networks for the Guardians and Rays:
Monday
Game 1: Guardians at Rays, 8 p.m. ET, TBS, truTV , HBO Max
Tuesday
Game 2: Guardians at Rays, 8 p.m. ET, TBS, truTV, HBO Max
Thursday
ALCS Game 3: Rays at Guardians, 6 p.m. ET, TBS, truTV, HBO Max
Friday
Game 4: Rays at Guardians, 6 p.m. ET, TBS, truTV, HBO Max
Saturday
Game 5*: Rays at Guardians, 8 p.m. ET, TBS, truTV, HBO Max
Oct. 19
Game 6*: Guardians at Rays, 5 p.m. ET, TBS, truTV, HBO Max
Oct. 20
Game 7*: Guardians at Rays, 8 p.m. ET, TBS, truTV, HBO Max
* – if necessary
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Ron Ledgard
Ron Ledgard is Cleveland Magazine's managing editor and a Pittsburgh native who has made his peace with Cleveland (except on Sundays). He's a University of Pittsburgh graduate, a veteran of The Athletic and the Akron Beacon Journal, and was there for every chapter of LeBron's Cleveland story. After two decades of chasing deadlines and box scores, he's happily landed in magazines. He's a sucker for a long story done right, the kind you save for a Sunday morning (before kickoff, of course). When he isn't editing, he's out on a trail, trying a new restaurant or hunting for the next great thing to do. Sports is his subject of choice, and coffee is his fuel. Most Starbucks baristas in the area greet him like the Cheers crowd greeted Norm.
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