Most of the 2026 season, the Cleveland Guardians were looking up at the Chicago White Sox in the American League Central Division race. However, in September, the Guardians caught fire and ended up passing the White Sox in the standings to win the division.
It was the second straight time they were able to rally to win the division. Last season, they took advantage of the Detroit Tigers fading down the stretch. However, after being bounced by the Tigers in the AL wild-card round in 2025, Cleveland is one game away from being bounced in the AL Division Series, this time by the White Sox.
The Guardians received the second American League bye in the wild-card round last week. After dropping Game 1 at home on Saturday, the Guardians grabbed an early 2-0 lead on Monday in Game 2, only to have Chicago rally and take a commanding 2-0 lead with a 4-3 victory. Now on the brink of being sent home for the winter, manager Stephen Vogt didn’t mince words after Monday’s loss.
Cleveland Guardians Manager Stephen Vogt Drops Blunt Quote After Game 2 Loss
After Monday’s loss, the Guardians have to win the final three games of the series to get to the American League Championship Series. That begins with Game 3 in Chicago on Wednesday.
“You don’t want to be in this position,” Vogt said, per Tim Stebbins of MLB.com. “I am not going to sugarcoat it. We’ve backed ourselves into a corner. We know that.”
They scored two runs in the first inning off White Sox starter Anthony Kay and reliever Sean Newcomb. However, after that, the bats struggled, and Chicago came alive after Gavin Williams exited the game. In five innings, Williams struck out 11 and allowed four hits and two runs before being lifted.
“We’re not going to sulk,” Vogt said, per Stebbins. “We’re going to come ready to play on Wednesday. We know what’s ahead of us. We have to win three in a row, but that starts one at a time on Wednesday.”
Cleveland Guardians Must Find Offense Going Back To Chicago
Winning one game is going to be tough for the Guardians if they’re only going to get four hits a game. That’s all they got on Monday and three after the first inning. Chase DeLauter had two hits, while Steven Kwan and Jo Adell had the other hits. They have seven hits in two games in the series.
“We’ve got to go out and win a ballgame. There’s no other way around it,” Adell said, per Stebbins. “We’ve got to win every game we play, and we’re capable of that.”
Part of Cleveland’s regular-season struggles this season has been an inability to score runs. Coming up with big hits has been an issue, and that has carried over to the first two games against the White Sox.
History is not on the Guardians’ side entering Game 3 in a best-of-five series. Furthermore, dropping the first two home games is not what they wanted. Through the first two games, Cleveland is 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position, and they’ve left 12 runners on base. That won’t happen in many, if any, postseason series, and the Guardians are finding that out the hard way.
Guardians Manager Stephen Vogt Drops Honest Quote After Game 2 Loss To White Sox