White Sox 7, Guardians 3: An 18-Pitch Walk, Then Six in the Sixth

Twelve fouls, a walk, then Progressive Field tilted

September 14, 2026 - Cleveland - Tristan Peters fouled off 12 pitches with two strikes and walked. The Associated Press recap said it was the longest plate appearance in the majors this season and tied for the third longest since 2000. Peters told the AP he felt like he was fighting for his life up there. The Chicago White Sox scored six times in the inning, beat the Cleveland Guardians 7-3, and left with a 1 1/2-game lead in the AL Central.

Partly cloudy, 66 degrees. First pitch 6:40 p.m. Attendance 24,318. The game lasted 3 hours, 10 minutes. For five innings it was a 0-0 that Cleveland had lined up on purpose. The Guardians flipped their rotation so Gavin Williams could start the opener, the AP recap said. He gave them five innings. They needed six.

The White Sox are 77-73. Cleveland is 76-75. Chicago has led the division since July 4 and is 7-4 against the Guardians this year, which clinches the season series and the tiebreaker. A club that lost 102 games and finished last in 2025 opened a showdown series by taking the first punch.

Williams through five, Burke through five, nobody on the board

Williams (13-8) went five: four hits, two runs, three walks, seven strikeouts, 113 pitches. Both runs scored after he left. The night he was asked to start a series he had already thrown a lot of pitches to keep scoreless. Sean Burke (9-7) went five the other way: four hits, one unearned run, two walks, four strikeouts, 94 pitches. Sean Newcomb had opened with a scoreless first. Burke took the next five and did not allow an earned run.

Andrew Benintendi singled to open the sixth. Peters lasted 18 pitches and walked. Colson Montgomery hit a grounder to Nathaniel Lowe at first. The throw to second hit Peters in the helmet, the AP recap said. Official scoring called it a fielder's choice and a throwing error. Benintendi scored. 1-0.

Chase Meidroth singled to left. Peters scored. 2-0. Tim Herrin had inherited two and watched both come in. Randal Grichuk singled to load them. Kyle Teel doubled to left, Montgomery and Meidroth scoring, Grichuk thrown out at the plate. 4-0. The AP recap noted Chicago had been 1-for-15 with the bases loaded over the previous 15 games before that double.

Daniel Espino inherited Teel. Miguel Vargas hit his 31st homer, a fly ball to left. Teel scored. 6-0. Six runs. One inning. Williams, Herrin, and Espino all had a piece of it. Only one of them started the night.

An error, a ninth-inning homer, and a series that still has two games

Cleveland got one back in the sixth without a clean hit. Patrick Bailey singled. Brayan Rocchio and Steven Kwan moved him over. José Ramírez reached on a fielding error by Montgomery. Bailey scored. 6-1. Unearned. Burke's line stayed at one run and zero earned.

Hagen Smith threw two scoreless innings after Burke, one hit, three strikeouts. Trevor Richards finished the ninth and gave two unearned runs back when Jo Adell reached and David Fry homered to left, his seventh. 7-3. Benintendi had already singled Vargas home in the top of the ninth. The late homer made the score look closer than the sixth inning had been.

Vargas went 2-for-4 with the homer, two RBI, a walk, and a stolen base. Benintendi went 3-for-5. Teel had the double and two RBI. Chicago had nine hits, two errors, and nine left on. Cleveland had seven hits, one error, and five left on. Ramírez stole two bases and still finished a night that turned on a helmet and a 31st homer.

A 1 1/2-game lead, and Griffin on Tuesday

The AP recap framed it as a showdown opener, and that is what it was. Chicago did not need a sweep to keep the division. It needed the first one. It got six in the sixth and a starter who did not give Cleveland a clean run.

Williams struck out seven and still took the loss because the sixth inning did not care about the first five. Burke won because the bullpen that followed him kept the Guardians from turning one error into a game. Fry's homer was real. It was also two runs in a 7-3.

Tuesday is Davis Martin (9-7, 4.05) against Foster Griffin (15-5, 3.65), who beat Chicago earlier this season while with Washington, the AP recap said. The White Sox have the lead and the tiebreaker. Cleveland has two more nights in its own park to shrink 1 1/2 games. Monday did not shrink it.

AthX Engine after the baseball

AthX Engine (our projection and scoring system) put Burke at 15 pitching fantasy points and Vargas at 12 hitting FP. Benintendi had 5. Smith had 8 pitching FP. Chicago finished with 14 team FP, tied for second on Monday. Cleveland finished at minus-2.

Fantasy points measure the night under platform scoring rules. Share prices also move with traders through dynamic pricing. They are related. They are not the same number.

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*Sources: ESPN recap and box score, MLB.com Gameday wrap, MLB.com schedule, and AthX Engine scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*