The Cleveland Guardians were one strike away from stealing a win on the road Monday night. They had the White Sox dead to rights in the bottom of the ninth. Then a 22-year-old rookie nobody outside Chicago had heard of a month ago turned the whole thing upside down.
Sam Antonacci came up with two outs, two runners on, and the White Sox down by a run. He ripped a single into left field that scored both runners and gave Chicago a 6-5 walk-off win at Rate Field. The place erupted. The broadcast showed Antonacci getting mobbed by teammates near first base while the umpires reviewed whether the runner from second had touched the plate cleanly. He had. The call stood.
How the Guardians Lost a Game They Had Already Won
Cleveland had no business being in position to win that game after the White Sox grabbed a 4-3 lead in the eighth. But the Guardians scrapped back. Walks hurt Chicago. A wild pitch hurt worse. Patrick Bailey dropped a go-ahead RBI single in the top of the ninth and suddenly the Guardians were up 5-4 with their closer on the mound.
Cade Smith came in to close it out. He had a one-run lead and needed three outs. It did not go according to plan.
Smith walked Braden Montgomery, the first batter he faced. Then Tristan Peters ripped a double that put runners at second and third. Smith recovered to strike out Jacob Gonzalez for the second out. One more strike and the Guardians would be celebrating a hard-fought road win. Instead, Antonacci got just enough bat on the ball.
Antonacci’s Swing Was the Sixth Time Chicago Has Walked It Off This Season
The White Sox now have six walk-off wins this season, which ties them for the most in baseball. That is a ridiculous number for a team that has not exactly terrified opponents in recent years. But Monday night showed something different. Chicago kept punching back, even when it looked like the game was slipping away.
For Cleveland, this one stings in a specific way. They did the hard part. They absorbed Chicago’s best shot in the eighth, answered in the ninth, and handed the ball to their best reliever with the game on the line. Smith had been 2-0 entering Monday. He took his first loss of the year.
The Guardians will have to shake this off quickly. Division games in June count the same as the ones in September, and letting a winnable game slip through your fingers in walk-off fashion is the kind of loss that can linger if you let it. They fly home after this one. The schedule moves on. But for one night, a rookie nobody expected to be in that spot gave Chicago a memory that will last all season.
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