White Sox Touched By God, Or Perhaps Merely Joyful Exuberance

At the start of Game 2 of their ALDS matchup, Chicago White Sox starter-turned-reliever-turned-opener Anthony Kay faced the Cleveland Guardians offense to pose a powerful question: What would be more powerful, a papal blessing, or Guardiansball, an offensive strategy best defined by the example phrase of "Steven Kwan infield single"? Well, immediately after the bottom of the first inning, Guardiansball was winning out. Kwan himself led off affairs by hitting a ground ball that trickled its way out of the infield for a single. José Ramírez walked. Chase DeLauter moved both runners into scoring position with another ground ball. Kay was pulled for White Sox reliever-stayed-reliever Sean Newcombe, who immediately went down 2-0 in the count to Jo Adell, before intentionally walking him. Nathaniel Lowe came up to bat and then booped a high chop that bounced right to Newcombe. The Guardians then implemented the second core piece of their strategy, "opposing team forgets how to place defense." Newcombe whipped the ball way off mark for a throwing error, allowing two runs to score. He went on to strike out the next two batters. And so, the fourth-worst slugging team in baseball this year ended the first inning with a two-run lead, despite failing to elevate the ball even once. It was the first time in the White Sox's 2026 playoff run that the team started a game trailing and, permitting me to take even more indulgence in small playoff sample sizes, the first runs scored in by the Guardians in the series. The circumstances were in place for the White Sox's blessed playoff run to stall out, with the Guardians at home, their starter Gavin Williams well-rested and regularly hitting triple digits on the radar gun, and the White Sox's strategy of generously deploying openers looking suspiciously close to a cheap knock-off version of the Dodgers' "Oops, all starting pitchers!" approach to bullpen construction.

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