CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Guardians won the American League Central title by one game over the Chicago White Sox.
A bigger prize will be on the line when the teams reunite Saturday afternoon.
Guardians left-hander Parker Messick takes on White Sox lefty Hagen Smith in a battle of talented rookies in Game 1 of the AL Division Series.
Messick went 12-9 with a 2.56 ERA in the regular season and was chosen for the All-Star Game, working one scoreless inning. He joined Cleveland late in the 2025 season, but did not pitch in the playoffs.
“It was so hard to sit on the bench and not take part in everything that was going on,” Messick said. “So I’m just excited for the opportunity to be able to pitch in this meaningful game because I’ve gotten to see it. Now, I actually get to taste it.”
The affable Messick has faced Chicago more times than any other foe, going 3-1 with a 2.56 ERA in five starts. He has struck out 33 over 31 2/3 innings.
“We have a bunch of guys who are ready to capture some matchups and get in the game mid-game, so it will be the same thing with Messick,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “We’ll have a lot of right-handed guys in there and have some lefties waiting in the wings to pop whenever the time comes.”
The White Sox went 7-6 against the Guardians in the regular season, but Cleveland won two of their three meetings at home in September.
“Every game against them felt kind of like a playoff game with the way that the games were,” Chicago outfielder Sam Antonacci said. “I know the fans will be there and support them, so it should be fun.
“It should be just some good overall baseball, and that’s all you can ask for in the playoffs.”
While second-seeded Cleveland is starting its postseason, sixth-seeded Chicago went on the road and swept the AL West champion Houston Astros 2-0 in the wild-card round.
The lasting image from that series came after it ended, when slugger Munetaka Murakami, in his first MLB season after arriving from Japan, went all out celebrating in the clubhouse.
Smith, who made his major league debut on Aug. 9, will work as an opener for the second time this week. He threw three scoreless innings in Game 1 against the Astros on Tuesday.
“It’s cool, obviously, because I want to go out there and do the best I can for the team,” said Smith, who was 3-3 with a 1.29 ERA in 18 regular-season appearances. “Realizing it’s just baseball at the end of the day.”
Smith pitched against the Guardians three times in the regular season, posting a 1-1 record and 3.18 ERA out of the bullpen. He took the loss in their final matchup on Sept. 16.
Venable was noncommittal about who will follow Smith in a bulk relief role.
Stephen Vogt, who has guided Cleveland to three straight division titles to begin his tenure as manager, said his team’s sole focus is trying to score against Smith, whose future lies in Chicago’s rotation.
“This is a very talented pitcher, and we saw him at spring training and then saw him in Chicago and at our place,” Vogt said. “You don’t know how they’re going to deploy from that moment on, but we know that we’re facing one of their best pitchers to start the game for some period of time.”
–Brian Dulik, Field Level Media
