Guardians survive with 9-3 win over White Sox

Jo Adell struck a bases-clearing triple as the Cleveland Guardians thumped the Chicago White Sox 9-3 Wednesday to stay alive in the Major League Baseball playoffs.

Having lost two home games in the best-of-five series, Cleveland needed their own road win to avoid elimination — and delivered in style.

Chicago, hoping to clinch a playoff series at home for the first time since 1906, had fired up fans with a slender first-inning lead before a Steven Kwan single and Adell’s triple sent Cleveland three ahead in the third.

The tenacious White Sox kept battling, as both sides leaned heavily on their bullpens, but could not rein in Cleveland before Jose Ramirez’s two-run triple sealed the game.

“The approach was to get on base, try to put pressure on the other team with my speed, and make something happen. Thank God all those things came out well,” said Ramirez.

The best-of-five American League Division Series continues Thursday in Chicago, where the White Sox have another chance to extend a fairytale year that has seen them bounce back from three straight 100-loss seasons to improbably reach the playoffs.

The eventual winner will face either the Tampa Bay Rays or the New York Yankees. The Rays, leading 2-0, will look to sweep that series at Yankee Stadium later Wednesday.

At the South Side’s Rate Field, Chicago drew first blood. A Kyle Teel double to right field scored Sam Antonacci in the first inning.

Cleveland pulled level in the third from Kwan’s single, which scored Travis Bazzana.

Pitcher Bryan Hudson, who had walked Bazzana, was withdrawn after just one-third of an inning, before his replacement Hagen Smith walked Jose Ramirez to load the bases.

Adell then belted his second triple in as many games to clear the bases and send the Guardians 4-1 up.

The White Sox pulled one run back in the fourth, with back-to-back doubles from Chase Meidroth and Tristan Peters — whose line drive sent Meidroth to home plate.

Cleveland made it 5-2 in the fifth, as Ramirez hit a double to left field, stole third base, then raced home on a contact play.

Chicago narrowed the gap once again in the sixth, as Hunter Gaddis struck two consecutive batters with wayward pitches. The second came with bases loaded, scoring Braden Montgomery.

But Ramirez took the game out of sight with a two-run triple in the eighth, as Bazzana and Patrick Bailey sprinted home.

Nathaniel Lowe got home off an Angel Genao double, and Petey Halpin made it nine from a Rocchio bloop single in Cleveland’s final inning.

Also Wednesday the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, leading 2-1, sought to close out their National League series in Atlanta.

Trailing 2-1, the San Diego Padres need a second straight home win to stay alive against the Milwaukee Brewers.