Chicago White Sox right-hander Grant Taylor had effectively been manager Will Venable’s get-out-of-jail-free card.
The 24-year-old had been the team’s best reliever this season, and in the playoffs, Venable has been able to deploy him as the ace of a team relying daily on bullpen games. Taylor hadn’t allowed an earned run in 7 2/3 innings across three appearances in the postseason, including a four-inning save in Game 1 of the American League Division Series against the Cleveland Guardians, and struck out 11 in those outings.
But it caught up with him and the White Sox at the most inopportune time Thursday. Taylor faced six hitters, failed to record an out, threw more balls (10) than strikes (eight) and surrendered four runs in a six-run sixth inning that torpedoed the White Sox in a 9-5 loss to the Guardians in Game 4 of the ALDS at Rate Field. The loss forced a winner-take-all Game 5 on Saturday in Cleveland.
Has Taylor been overused facing the Guardians three times in four games?
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“No,” Taylor answered matter-of-factly.
Was he gassed from the 103 pitches he had thrown in his trio of postseason games?
“Body felt good,” Taylor said. “Stuff felt good. Just didn’t execute.”
It takes two to tango, and the Guardians felt the repeated looks they’ve had against Taylor and the rest of the White Sox bullpen has benefitted them.
The White Sox relief corps had a 1.04 ERA in 26 playoff innings, and after taking a 2-0 series lead in the ALDS, Taylor had emerged as the darling of the group.
Venable and the rest of the coaching staff hadn’t adhered to tradition in managing their pitching staff — they approached the playoffs with a mindset of maximizing matchups to pick up 27 outs and win games.
Game 4 photos: Chicago White Sox lose 9-5 to Cleveland Guardians in ALDS
But in a best-of-five series, the Guardians have had plenty of looks at Taylor and the rest of the relievers. His four-seam fastball doesn’t carry the same zip, and the break on his curveball isn’t as knee-jerking when a hitter has seen it a second or third time.
“Obviously the more you see a certain guy, kind of not necessarily more comfortable, but you get to see that kind of shapes more and more,” Patrick Bailey said. “Definitely helps.”
Bailey hit a fifth-inning solo home run off Erick Fedde that cut an early White Sox lead in half. He was the first hitter Taylor faced in the sixth inning and singled to give the Guardians a lead they would not relinquish.
“I think for me it’s more of a mindset shift that our guys have,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “Obviously both teams are familiar. There’s no secrets. There’s no surprises. Every hitter has seen every bullpen guy multiple times throughout the course of the year and in this series. It comes down to execution.”
Hagen Smith reprised his role as opener Thursday after filling that task in Game 1 of both the wild-card round and the ALDS. Smith had recorded eight outs or more in those two games but threw two-thirds of an inning in Wednesday’s Game 3, allowing a run on two walks.
A third look in six days hurt him too.
He failed to make it out of the first inning, recording two outs and walking three, forcing Venable to turn to Fedde to escape a bases-loaded jam.
The 33-year-old wiggled out of it, but he allowed the leadoff home run to Bailey and a one-out single to Steven Kwan in the fifth to end his night. Jordan Hicks came on and promptly served up a two-run run blast to José Ramírez that gave the Guardians the lead and temporarily silenced the 39,920 fans at Rate Field.
“I know a lot of their pitchers, and they know me,” Ramírez said in Spanish after the game. “The pitcher has a plan, I have a plan, and thanks to God, things came out in my favor, and that’s what I hoped. Thankfully, we won the game, too.”
The Sox’s pitching plan late in the season and in the playoffs has relied on multiple pitchers succeeding, and for four games, it had worked almost flawlessly. But in the last two games, the Guardians offense hit back and derailed the bullpen games that have made the Sox successful.
To advance to the American League Championship Series, they’ll need one night in Cleveland, where their army of relievers can piece together 27 outs against a lineup that has had plenty of looks against them. But they’ll arguably need Taylor the most in that game.
“I’m going to be available for anything,” Taylor said. “If they want me to go nine, then go for it. I’m going to do everything in the next couple of days to be ready to go and put my body on the line for the team.”
And the Sox will take solace in their hitters having had looks at the Guardians arms and taxing them. Vogt turned to closer Cade Smith in the eighth inning, a day after he had thrown 19 pitches in two innings. The All-Star closer was yanked after he surrendered a solo home run to Miguel Vargas and walked Munetaka Murakami.
Vogt turned to Gavin Williams, who started Game 2 and was in line to start Game 5, to close out the game. Williams needed 18 pitches but forced a winner-take-all contest Saturday.
“Yeah, small victories there, I think,” Venable said after the loss. “I also think that those guys will be ready to go. As we’ve battled back and forth with these guys, obviously fitting that it’s going to come down to this. It’s been how the back and forth has been all year.
“So yeah, there’s some small win in making Cade pitch (31) pitches, two up and then getting Gavin in the game as well.”
Andy Martinez is a freelance reporter for the baiduhai.