White Sox push Williams to the limit, Guardians to the brink

For five innings, the Cleveland righthander made Chicago's lineup look mostly overmatched, piling up strikeouts while the South Siders strung together missed opportunities. But Williams' pitches had an expiration date, and when he finally handed the ball over in the sixth, the Sox were ready to collect.

Braden Montgomery's two-run double flipped the game, Chase Meidroth supplied a crucial insurance run and Sean Burke provided the record-breaking pitching performance Chicago desperately needed. The result was a 4-3 victory and a 2-0 lead in this best-of-five ALDS, with a chance to finish the job Wednesday in front of the home crowd.

Williams came out firing fastballs at 100-plus mph, retiring Sam Antonacci on a grounder he nearly beat out before striking out Kyle Teel. Teel took a questionable strike two but wisely kept the challenge in his pocket. Miguel Vargas worked a four-pitch walk, only to be stranded when Munetaka Murakami went down looking. A 15-pitch first inning wasn't going to get Williams out of this game. Chicago needed to make him work considerably harder.