Maybe it shouldn't be a surprise that the White Sox and Guardians are going to a winner-take-all Game 5 in the American League Division Series tomorrow night.
The way these two teams have battled it out all year, maybe this is where we were headed all along. But after the White Sox took the first two games of the ALDS on the road in Cleveland, it was looking like it'd be a short series.
But now here we are. One game, winner goes on to face the Rays in the ALCS, loser goes home.
Here's what you need to know for Game 5.
White Sox at Guardians
Tomorrow at 8 p.m. ET/7 CT on TBS/truTV/UniMas/HBO Max
The series so far:
The road team has won every game in this series -- the White Sox took Games 1 and 2 in Cleveland, then the Guardians stormed back to win Games 3 and 4 in Chicago and deny the Sox their first postseason clinch at home in 120 years.
The last team to rally from an 0-2 hole to win a best-of-five series was the 2017 Yankees … against Cleveland. The Guards could also join the 2001 Yankees, 2012 Giants and 2015 Blue Jays as the only teams to come back in the Division Series after losing the first two at home.
And this is only the sixth time in Division Series history that the road team has won the first four games. So what happens in the winner-take-all Game 5? Twice, the road team has won Game 5 and the series (the 2010 Rangers and 2012 Giants). The other three times, the home team bounced back to win the final contest (the 1981 Yankees, 2001 Yankees and 2015 Blue Jays). In other words: This is anyone's game.
Pitching matchup:
Sean Burke will start for the White Sox after pitching 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball as the bulk guy behind an opener in Game 2. American League strikeout king Gavin Williams gets the ball for the Guardians -- even after he closed out Game 4 in relief.
Hitters to watch:
José RamÃrez has gotten hot at just the right time for the Guardians -- the star third baseman is 4-for-9 with a double, a triple, a homer and five RBIs over the last two games of the series.
For the White Sox to advance, they might need a couple more big swings from All-Stars Munetaka Murakami and Miguel Vargas, who've each homered once in this series.
