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Chicago White Sox’s Miguel Vargas (20), Munetaka Murakami (5) and Tristan Peters, right, celebrate after the White Sox defeated the Cleveland Guardians in a baseball game in Cleveland, Monday, Sept. 14, 2026.<\/p>\n
Sue Ogrocki\/AP Photo\/Sue Ogrocki<\/p>\n
Chicago White Sox’s Munetaka Murakami walks in the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Cleveland, Monday, Sept. 14, 2026.<\/p>\n
Sue Ogrocki\/AP Photo\/Sue Ogrocki<\/p>\n
Chicago White Sox pitcher Trevor Richards, right, and catcher Kyle Teel (8) shake hands after the Chicago White Sox defeated the Cleveland Guardians in a baseball game in Cleveland, Monday, Sept. 14, 2026.<\/p>\n
Sue Ogrocki\/AP Photo\/Sue Ogrocki<\/p>\n
Chicago White Sox’s Miguel Vargas celebrates in the dugout after hitting a home run in the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Cleveland, Monday, Sept. 14, 2026.<\/p>\n
Sue Ogrocki\/AP Photo\/Sue Ogrocki<\/p>\n
Chicago White Sox’s Tristan Peters falls after being hit by a pitch in the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Cleveland, Monday, Sept. 14, 2026.<\/p>\n
Sue Ogrocki\/AP Photo\/Sue Ogrocki<\/p>\n
CLEVELAND (AP) \u2014 The Chicago White Sox weren’t supposed to be anywhere near first place in the AL Central this September.<\/p>\n
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The goal now is to finish there.<\/p>\n
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Playing carefree and with an aggressive style that has made them baseball’s biggest surprise in 2026, the White Sox erupted for six runs following Tristan Peters’ incredible, 18-pitch plate appearance in the sixth inning on Monday night and beat the Cleveland Guardians 7-3 in the opener of their division showdown series.<\/p>\n
With the victory, the White Sox, who lost at least 100 games in each of the previous three seasons, moved 1 1\/2 games ahead of Cleveland. They also secured the tiebreaker in case the rivals finish with identical records.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s huge,” said Peters, who fouled off 12, two-strike pitches in his battle with Gavin Williams. “I think more important, too, is how we went about it. That was more like ourselves. We were fired up and just felt like that\u2019s the baseball that we play. That was the most encouraging part.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kyle Teel hit a two-run double and Miguel Vargas connected for a two-run homer following Peters’ lengthy trip to the plate.<\/p>\n
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\u201cAn amazing at-bat,\u201d said White Sox manager Will Venable.<\/p>\n
The game was scoreless in the sixth when Peters came up following a leadoff walk to Andrew Benintendi. Williams (13-8) got ahead 1-2 in the count before Peters went into survival mode during a plate appearance he’ll never forget.<\/p>\n
“I felt like I was fighting for my life up there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Peters fouled off a four-seam fastball, curveball, sweeper and another fastball before taking ball two. Williams then tried another curveball, a four-seamer, sweeper, cutter and curve, and each time Peters found a way to get a piece of the pitch and foul it off.<\/p>\n
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\u201cHe was nibbling the corners, so I was just trying to see it as deep as possible, especially when I got to two strikes,\u201d Peters explained. \u201cI was just battling, trying to put something in play. … I might have swung at one that might have hit me.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the battle wore on, the Chicago dugout became energized with every swing and foul ball headed into the stands drawing a bigger cheer.<\/p>\n
Peters took Williams’ 15th pitch for a ball and fouled off two more before earning a walk to end the longest plate appearance in MLB this season and the third longest since 2000.<\/p>\n
Williams tipped his cap to Peters.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI counted at one point and I just stopped counting because it was getting up there,\u201d Williams said. \u201cThose at-bats are frustrating. I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever gone in an at-bat that long.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like Peters, these White Sox, who have been alone in first place since July 4, aren’t going down without a fight.<\/p>\n
While they came in struggling with 10 losses in 14 games since Aug. 30, Peters said the mood has remained positive and during a hitter’s meeting before this series there were reminders to just keep swinging \u2014 and smiling.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re just trying to get back to being ourselves,\u201d he said. “I think we might be gripping the bat too tight and stuff like that. But today we played loose and just had some fun. This game is supposed to be fun and I think that\u2019s how we\u2019ve been doing it all year.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The loss was a missed chance for the Guardians, who will have two more cracks at the White Sox and a return to first.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis team\u2019s not going to get down by one loss,\u201d manager Stephen Vogt said. “We have two more in this series. We know what we\u2019re up against. We know that there\u2019s an 11-game sprint to the end, but we can only take care of one at a time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis team hasn\u2019t let one loss get him down yet. I don\u2019t expect that to happen now.”<\/p>\n
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