Cleveland Guardians at Chicago White Sox: Final Score & Recap
Line Score
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CLE | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 10 | 0 |
| CWS | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 0 |
The Story
The Cleveland Guardians handed the Chicago White Sox an 8-2 defeat at Rate Field on August 7, 2026, swinging the DiamondIQ model's estimate of a home win from 56% before first pitch all the way to 0% by game's end. Cleveland struck early with a two-run first inning, but the game's decisive moment came in the top of the fifth, when Angel Martínez launched a home run off David Sandlin that shifted win probability by 21.7 percentage points in Cleveland's favor. That blow was part of a five-run fifth-inning outburst that effectively ended any realistic path back for Chicago. A hit by pitch to Jo Adell earlier in that same frame had already nudged things further Cleveland's way by 5.8 percentage points, compounding the damage Sandlin absorbed in the inning.
On the other side of the ledger, Braden Montgomery provided Chicago's lone moment of traction, connecting for a home run off Parker Messick in the bottom of the second that added 7.4 percentage points to the White Sox win probability. That stood as the most impactful swing in Chicago's favor all night. Randal Grichuk's pop out in the bottom of the first, at -6.9 percentage points, underscored how little the White Sox were able to manufacture anything early against Messick, who finished as the top pitcher by WPA at +21.3 percentage points. Martínez led all batters with a WPA of +20.7 and an RE24 of +3.0, while Montgomery at +8.5 WPA and Chase DeLauter at +7.1 WPA rounded out the top contributors at the plate for Cleveland. The Guardians finished with 10 hits and committed no errors, while Chicago managed 8 hits without converting them into meaningful production.