3 series takeaways as White Sox fall, 4-3 in 10 innings, to Guardians after rain delay

LaMond Pope, Chicago Tribune on Jun 24, 2026

Published in Baseball

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CHICAGO — The never-say-die attitude of the Chicago White Sox was on full display Wednesday against the Cleveland Guardians. Down to their last out in the ninth inning, Braden Montgomery and Randal Grichuk hit back-to-back home runs to tie the score.

But the Guardians shook off the rally, scoring a run in the 10th to defeat the Sox, 4-3, in front of 17,664 at Rate Field.

Kahlil Watson drove in the go-ahead run with a single in the 10th to prevent the Sox from sweeping the three-game series. The teams are tied for first place in the American League Central, with the Sox at 41-38 and the Guardians at 42-39.

Wednesday’s game began after a 2-hour, 40-minute rain delay.

Here are three takeaways from the series.

1. The Sox nearly pulled off an amazing comeback.

The Sox got to Guardians closer Cade Smith on Monday. And they did it again on Wednesday.

Entering the ninth with a 3-1 lead, Smith retired the first two batters. Montgomery homered to center and Grichuk homered to left, an incredible turn of events.

Pitching had dominated most of the day, with no score through five innings.

The Guardians broke through with two runs in the sixth.

Brayan Rocchio began the inning with a single. David Fry hit a grounder that shortstop Colson Montgomery couldn’t field cleanly. Kyle Manzardo walked, loading the bases with no outs.

Rhys Hoskins struck out, but Watson followed with a two-run single.

That was all the damage against bulk pitcher Erick Fedde, who allowed the two runs (one earned) on five hits with two strikeouts and three walks in four innings following opener Chris Murphy.

Guardians starter Tanner Bibee allowed three hits in six scoreless innings.

The Sox scored a run against reliever Erik Sabrowski on a sacrifice fly to center by Braden Montgomery. Grichuk hit a liner that had double written all over it, but left fielder Steven Kwan covered enough ground to make the catch.

The Guardians extended the lead with a run in the eighth, but the Sox rallied to force extra innings. Watson came through again for Cleveland, which held on to hand the Sox a rare home loss.

2. Even with Wednesday’s loss, the Sox continued an impressive home streak.

The Sox secured their ninth straight home series victory with Tuesday’s 2-1 win. It’s the longest such streak since also winning nine from June 27 to Aug. 24, 2003.

“Everybody’s comfortable here and the fans are showing out,” starter Sean Burke said after Tuesday’s game. “It’s Tuesday night and there’s 30,000 people in the stands.

“I’m truly excited every single time I wake up and get to pitch at home.”

The Sox are 26-13 at home. They entered Wednesday tied with the Tampa Bay Rays for the best home mark in the majors.

The Sox are 22-5 in their last 27 home games.

3. The rookies are rising to the major moments.

Left fielder Sam Antonacci’s two-out, two-run single in the ninth inning against Smith propelled the Sox to a 6-5 victory on Monday.

Rookies have accounted for three of the team’s six walk-off hits this season.

“Just want to win and it doesn’t matter who is getting it done,” Antonacci said on Monday. “We continue to find a way. Hopefully we’ll have some less stressful wins for our fans.”

The Sox found a way to respond after the Guardians took the lead with two runs in the top of the ninth.

“We signed up to play a team sport and that’s what happens in a team sport,” Antonacci said. “If anyone’s mad about getting down, tell them to go play an individual sport. Go play tennis or go play golf where you only have to worry about yourself. It’s what you sign up for and you’ve got to get behind each other.

“There’s going to be a time where I go 0 for 4, 0 for 5 with four or five Ks (strikeouts) and I’m going to rely on the guy behind me and the guy in front of me to hopefully not be mad at me that I’m struggling, but pick me up and hopefully get some big-time hits for me.”

The big hits continued for the Sox on Wednesday in an effort that fell just short.