The White Sox can clinch a playoff series at home for the first time since 1906
The White Sox host Game 4 of the ALDS tonight at Rate Field. A win ends the series at home, something the franchise hasn't done since 1906.
If you were on the South Side Wednesday night, or watching from the couch with a jacket still on, you saw the White Sox miss their first chance. Cleveland won Game 3, 9–3. The Sox still lead the best-of-five American League Division Series 2–1, and they get another chance tonight, Thursday, Oct. 8, in Game 4 at Rate Field. If they win, the series ends at home. The last time the Sox clinched a postseason series at home was the 1906 World Series.
The short answer
The Game 3 chance is gone. Cleveland's Jo Adell and José Ramírez each hit a big triple, Sox hitters struck out 19 times, and the Guardians stayed alive with a 9–3 win at Rate Field on Wednesday, Oct. 7.
The Sox still need just one more win, and Game 4 is at home. A win tonight sends them to the American League Championship Series. It would also be something no living Sox fan has seen: the team winning a playoff series in front of its own crowd. That hasn't happened since 1906, 120 years ago.
If they lose tonight, the series goes back to Cleveland for a Game 5. A win there would still send the Sox on, but it would be another road clinch. Tonight is the only home chance left in this series.
Where the series stands
The Sox opened in Cleveland and swept the first two games.
- Game 1, Saturday, Oct. 3: Sox 3, Guardians 0, in Cleveland.
- Game 2, Monday, Oct. 5: Sox 4, Guardians 3, in Cleveland. The Sox trailed for the first time this postseason. Rookie Braden Montgomery hit a two-run double in the sixth to give them the lead, and Chase Meidroth's RBI single drove in the winning run.
- Game 3, Wednesday, Oct. 7: Guardians 9, Sox 3, at Rate Field.
Before Game 3 the Sox were 4–0 this postseason. All four wins came on the road, and they gave up seven runs total in those games.
Then the series came home. The crowd at Rate Field was 40,590, the first Sox home playoff game since 2021. It started well. Kyle Teel's RBI double in the first inning put the Sox up 1–0. In the third, Adell cleared the bases with a three-run triple that made it 4–1 Cleveland, and the Sox didn't lead again. Ramírez's triple in the eighth made it 7–3.
The Sox offense had a rough night. They struck out 19 times and went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Cleveland reliever Foster Griffin struck out seven in 2 2/3 innings, a franchise record for a reliever.
What 1906 means
According to MLB's Sarah Langs, quoted by NBC Chicago, Game 3 was the first time since the 1906 World Series that the Sox had a chance to close out a postseason series at home. That was the "Hitless Wonders" year, when the Sox beat the Cubs for the championship.
The long gap is mostly about how few chances the Sox have had. Old Comiskey Park was open for 80 years, and the Sox never got a chance to clinch a playoff series there. In 2005, the team that won the World Series clinched all three of its postseason series on the road. They won the title in Houston, not on 35th Street.
So for a family that's had Sox season tickets for generations, there's never been a night when the final out of a series ended with the Sox winning at home. Wednesday could have been that night. Tonight still can be.
Tonight's game
Game 4 starts at 7 p.m. Central at Rate Field, according to CBS Chicago and Cleveland TV stations covering the Guardians. The game moved to prime time after the Yankees lost to the Rays on Wednesday night. Some earlier schedules listed an afternoon start, so check the Sox or MLB for the final time before you head out.
The national broadcast is on TBS, with HBO Max streaming. Earlier series listings also include truTV.
Cleveland will start left-hander Parker Messick, who went 12–9 with a 2.56 ERA in 32 starts this season. The Sox had not announced their starter after Game 3. Check the lineup before first pitch.
If Cleveland wins tonight, Game 5 is Saturday, Oct. 10, at 7 p.m. Central in Cleveland.
What a win means, and what comes next
A win tonight would send the Sox to the ALCS for the first time since 2005. This is the franchise's 12th playoff appearance, and the Sox have won only six postseason series in their history. A win tonight would be the seventh, and the first one clinched at home in 120 years.
A loss isn't the end of the season. It would mean one more game on Saturday, on the road, where this team was 4–0 before the series came home. Either way, there's October baseball on the South Side this week, with Halloween still three weeks away.
Where to read more
For the full Game 3 recap, see CBS Chicago and Fox Sports. NBC Chicago has the 1906 background and the Sarah Langs numbers. Fox 32 covers Game 2 and the 2005 road clinches. The AP story, carried by the AJC, recaps Game 2. CBS Chicago's "game today" page has the Game 4 and Game 5 times.
Sources (10)
- CBS Chicago: White Sox vs. Guardians ALDS Game 3
- CBS Chicago: What time is the White Sox game today?
- Fox Sports: Jo Adell and José Ramírez star as the Guardians beat the White Sox 9-3 to avoid elimination
- NBC Chicago: White Sox will have a once-in-a-century chance at Rate Field
- NBC Chicago: Just how unprecedented has the White Sox's playoff run been?
- Fox 32 Chicago: White Sox, ALCS, Rate Field
- AJC/AP: White Sox surge past Guardians 4-3 to take 2-0 lead in ALDS
- NBC Sports: How to watch White Sox vs. Guardians in the 2026 ALDS
- WKBN: Guardians-White Sox ALDS Game 4 start time changed
- WFIN: Guardians-White Sox ALDS Game 4 FAQ
Photo: Chicago White Sox-New York Mets Guaranteed Rate Field 02 by Zakarie Faibis, CC BY-SA 4.0.