The Cleveland Guardians completed a cool trifecta on Wednesday afternoon. They beat the Chicago White Sox 6-3 at Progressive Field, taking the game, the series, and the top spot of the AL Central after moving to a 78-75 record, leaving behind the 77-75 Sox.
Petey Halpin hit a huge three-run shot to give the Guardians the lead in the sixth, and they wouldn’t look back from that point forward. There’s still a lot of work to do to secure a spot in the postseason, but Cleveland finally caught Chicago and took sole possession of the division.
We are leading the American League Central!#GuardsBall | #GuardiWWins pic.twitter.com/Cu8mfA1ncL
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) September 16, 2026
Parker Messick gave Cleveland a quality start, limiting the White Sox to three runs on six innings of work. He gave up seven hits, but didn’t walk anyone and struck out seven to notch his 12th win of the year.
The Guardians landed the first blow of the game in the bottom of the third. Halpin opened the frame with a single, and after Brayan Rocchio struck out swinging, Steven Kwan hit a ground ball. A fielding error by second baseman Chase Meidroth while making a tag resulted in no outs being made and runners on the corners.
Jose Ramirez gave away the second out on a soft grounder, but Kwan advanced to second on the play. Jo Adell then delivered a line drive that fell for a two-run single.
Messick got into some trouble in the top of the fifth. With two outs and two runners on base, he faced Tommy Pham, who was activated from the injured list ahead of the game. The veteran slugger belted a go-ahead three-run shot on a hanging curveball that gave the White Sox a 3-2 lead in the blink of an eye.
Messick was able to pull himself together, finish off the fifth, and throw a scoreless sixth. This would be crucial for the Guardians, who retook the lead in the bottom of the inning.
The White Sox looked in control of things in that sixth frame, walking David Fry but getting two outs relatively quickly. Things after that, however, went south for them very quickly.
Hagen Smith walked Austin Hedges to put two men on, and the Sox brought in Sean Newcomb. His first assignment was Halpin, and boy, did Chicago’s lefty fail:
(P)etey (H)alpin – (P)ower (H)itter#GuardsBall | #StandGuard pic.twitter.com/JD2u79h7iO
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) September 16, 2026
Halpin hit his fourth blast of the year, a go-ahead three-run blast to give Cleveland a two-run lead. Rocchio and Kwan then walked, setting the scene for Jose Ramirez to hit a screaming line drive that fell for his second double of the day, bringing in Rocchio and extending the Guardians’ lead to 6-3.
Halpin was the star of the day at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two runs scored, the homer, and three RBI. J-Ram hit two doubles as a righty, and Adell drove in two runs for the winners. Hunter Gaddis, Erik Sabrowski, and Cade Smith, three key members of one of the league’s hottest bullpens, combined to navigate through the last three innings with no damage reflected on the scoreboard.
The Guardians will have Thursday off before hosting the Athletics on a weekend series.
NEXT: Guardians Get Encouraging Injury Update On Key Reliever
