After winning the first two games of the series on Thursday and Friday, the Cleveland Guardians were unable to keep up the momentum and fell 3-1 at the hands of the Chicago White Sox on Saturday at Progressive Field. That result means the two squads are, once again, tied at the top of the AL Central.
The Guardians fell to 47-43 on the season, while the Pale Hose went to 46-42. Everything is set for an exciting series finale on Sunday, in which the winner will take sole possession of the top spot.
A chance to win the series tomorrow.#GuardsBall pic.twitter.com/NchooDKRBK
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) July 5, 2026
Left-hander Parker Messick, who was elected to his first All-Star Game on Saturday, lowered his season ERA to 2.80 after allowing just one run in five frames, but he ended up with a no-decision. He surrendered five hits and three walks, striking out three.
White Sox’s starter Sean Burke dominated the Guardians all night, surrendering a single run in six innings and striking out 11. Cleveland hitters walked only once and fanned 14 times in the game.
The White Sox went right down to business in the first inning, when Colson Montgomery’s double drove in Miguel Vargas for the first run of the game. Rookie left fielder Cooper Ingle committed a throwing error on the play, but the runner probably would have scored anyway.
Austin Hedges tied things in the bottom of the fifth with a solo home run. Even though Steven Kwan, who is starting to turn his season around, tripled in the next play, the Guardians couldn’t score any more runs as he was caught between third base and home plate after Travis Bazzana’s grounder.
Hotdogs and Hedgehogs. The American Way.#GuardsBall pic.twitter.com/o9s4V1U0nl
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) July 5, 2026
After Messick departed the game, Shawn Armstrong took care of the sixth inning with no issues, and Hunter Gaddis did the same with the seventh. Tim Herrin and Matt Festa, however, each allowed one run to lose control of the game.
In the eighth, Montgomery homered off Herrin to break the tie and put Chicago ahead 2-1. An inning later, Vargas drove in Tristan Peters with a sac fly off Festa to extend the White Sox’s lead.
Hedges went 2-for-3 with the homer, a run, and an RBI, and Brayan Rocchio also racked up two hits and stole a base. Rookie Khalil Watson went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts, but had two stolen bases.
Cleveland will try to secure the series win on Sunday with Tanner Bibee on the mound. Chicago, on the other hand, can tie the four-game set behind Erick Fedde.
NEXT: 3 Guardians Players Will Go To The All-Star Game
