Game 2 turned on one bad inning from the Cleveland bullpen. Erik Sabrowski walked a batter, threw a wild pitch and gave up a 2-run double to Braden Montgomery, and Chase Meidroth added an RBI single to make it 4-2. Cleveland's pen was already thin. Colin Holderman is headed for season-ending wrist surgery and Andrew Walters had elbow UCL repair, so Stephen Vogt has fewer late-inning arms he can trust in an elimination game.
Chicago has won 5 straight as of Tuesday, including the 2-game sweep in Houston that closed the regular season and both wins at Progressive Field. Neither ALDS win was comfortable: 3-0 and 4-3. The White Sox have won by keeping Cleveland's offense quiet more than by scoring a lot. The Guardians scored 23 runs in 2 games at Kansas City late last month before the bats went cold, so the slump is recent and not necessarily permanent.
The forecast is 77 degrees and cloudy with no rain expected and a 9 mph wind, so weather shouldn't decide this one. What decides it is whether Cleveland's mix-and-match plan can get through Chicago's lefty-heavy lineup the first time through, and whether the Guardians' hitters finally solve a bullpen that has shut them down in both games. The White Sox can clinch at home, and Cleveland has to win to play Game 4.