The Cleveland Guardians are heading to the ALCS, after defeating the Chicago White Sox on Saturday. Cleveland won three contests in a row to take the American League Division series from Chicago. Former Major League Baseball pitcher CC Sabathia sent his congratulations to the Guardians after the win.
“Cleveland!!! What a comeback. Congrats to the Cleveland Guardians,” Sabathia posted to X, formelry Twitter.
The Guardians won Game 5 of the ALDS on Saturday, 2-0. Guardians slugger Jose Ramirez blasted a two-run home run, to score the game's only runs.
While Ramirez's blast was an important storyline in the game, it was the Guardians' pitching that was the real highlight. Cleveland's hurlers put up jaw-dropping numbers in Game 5, to continue a hot-streak.
“Cleveland pitchers struck out 21 batters on Saturday. That’s the most in a nine-inning postseason or regular-season game in MLB history. The prior most in a nine-inning postseason game was 19, in Game 3 of this series, also by the Guardians. The prior most in a regular-season game was 20, multiple times — most recently by Brewers pitchers on March 26, also against the White Sox,” MLB.com reported.
The Guardians are ready to ride this momentum into the ALCS. During the regular season, Cleveland won the American League Central division.
“It's about resilience,” Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said, per MLB.com. “This group has demonstrated that time and time again throughout the course of the season.
Article Continues Below“With their backs against the wall, they never had any doubt and found a way to make it happen.”
The Guardians now face the Tampa Bay Rays in the ALCS. Tampa defeated the New York Yankees in a division series. Game 1 of the ALCS is on Monday.
Cleveland last won a World Series title in 1948.