CLEVELAND — Resiliency has been part of the Chicago White Sox identity all year long.
Before Saturday’s win-or-go-home Game 5 of the American League Division Series against the Cleveland Guardians, manager Will Venable said that trait was built by the players.
“It’s the kind of guys that we have,” Venable said at Progressive Field. “We have guys that I think the underdog mentality suits us. I think that there’s a lot of guys and personalities that feed into that. I think the perception of us and this organization has enhanced that for us, in which we’re even more motivated to prove everyone wrong and to change the perception of what the White Sox are.
“We have a bunch of guys that are committed to that, that have gone out and done that on a daily basis. And throughout the year, we’ve seen that be challenged at a lot of points. You come out and you have this great belief that this year is going to be a good year and you get kicked in the teeth pretty good there early on in (the season-opening series at) Milwaukee. And even through the first 15, 20 games of the season, it wasn’t good. And there’s been rough stretches, as there are in every major-league season.”
Venable continued: “So these guys have just continued to answer the bell. They’ve continued to shake off what happens yesterday, whether it’s good or bad, and come to the ballpark ready to play, and we expect that to be the same thing here.”
With a trip to the AL Championship Series on the line, here’s what to know before Game 5.
Rare occurrence
Saturday marked just the second winner-take-all postseason game in franchise history for the Sox. The other occurred in 2020, when they lost Game 3 of the AL wild-card series at Oakland.
“They know what’s at stake, and I think that there is more time spent on a day like today on individual messaging and adjustments that we need to make (rather than broad messaging), knowing that this is another game, Game 5 of a series, game (18) we’ve played these guys this year,” Venable said. “So we’re focused on those things.
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“As far as the broader message, I’m not sure that if I sat these guys down and had some amazing motivational speech, that it’s going to stick or help. That’s not really my style anyway. So I think that we’re really confident that this group is well positioned and understand what it takes to win a game here, understand that it’s a Game 5 and the stakes are as high as they get, but these guys are ready for the moment.”
Going the distance
Guardians manager Stephen Vogt ran into Venable in the hallway at Rate Field after Game 4.
“(We) kind of shared like, of course, we’re going to play five games,” Vogt said before Saturday’s game.
Vogt said on Saturday that he has “so much respect for Will.”
“I’ve played against him, now managing teams in the same division,” he said. “What a good human being. He’s fun to talk to. We’ve had great conversations off the field, on the field.
“I have so much respect for what he and that group have done over there. And we’ve just laughed all year because we play one-run games. The whole series was defined by one run. Now here we are in Game 5.”
Lineup change
Brenton Doyle will start in center field for the Sox, with Tristan Peters shifting to right field for Game 5.
“Just excited about the defense that he brings, and as we’ve evaluated him in this environment, the at-bat quality that he’s given us has been really good,” Venable said of Doyle. “So I feel really good about where he’s at.
“I also expect there to be a lot of twists and turns in this one. And so having him there and kind of locking him in at the bottom of the order there in center field felt like the right thing to do.”
Doyle made a nice leaping catch in left-center to wrap up Game 2.
Right fielder Braden Montgomery was not in Saturday’s starting lineup. He was 1-for-15 (.067) through the first four games of the ALDS with nine strikeouts, one walk and two RBIs. The hit was a big one, a go-ahead two-run double in the sixth inning of Game 2 at Progressive Field.
“As I mentioned, (we) expect there to be a lot of twists and turns to this one and certainly going to use our bench,” Venable said. “And having Braden’s flexibility off the bench as a switch hitter, that’s a plus as well. It is exciting. We’re evaluating the whole thing, not knowing exactly what’s going to happen with how far (Cleveland starter) Gavin (Williams) is going to go or what’s behind it, I felt really strongly about Brenton.”
Here’s the Sox lineup, with Sean Burke getting the start.
- Sam Antonacci, LF
- Kyle Teel C
- Miguel Vargas 3B
- Munetaka Murakami 1B
- Andrew Benintendi DH
- Tristan Peters RF
- Chase Meidroth 2B
- Colson Montgomery SS
- Brenton Doyle CF