White Sox beat Guardians 3-0 in Game 1 of ALDS behind Murakami homer, 3-hitter

CLEVELAND (AP) — The Chicago White Sox used a major league-leading 11 bullpen games en route to their first postseason appearance since 2021.

Manager Will Venable also went with that approach to win Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series, starting a sweep at Houston.

The formula ended up paying dividends again on Saturday in an AL Division Series opener against Cleveland.

Five Chicago pitchers combined for a three-hitter and struck out 12, and Munetaka Murakami hit a two-run homer as the White Sox beat the Guardians 3-0.

“You go out and you have a rough plan and then the players have to go out and execute, and then we were able to do that today,” Venable said. “They’re going to take their walks, and they have a dynamic offense. So really important that you have guys pick each other up in these situations, which we saw today.”

Colson Montgomery added an RBI double for the White Sox, who have won nine of 11 games dating to the regular season.

It was the sixth White Sox postseason shutout, their first since the finale of a 2005 World Series sweep of Houston.

Cleveland, which won its third straight AL Central title by one game over the White Sox, had the bases loaded with two outs the third and fourth innings but couldn’t get any runs across.

“Of course you’re frustrated when you get shut out, but I thought our guys fought and battled," Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. "With how well they threw, we were getting on base. We just couldn’t get it going early in the inning,”

Game 2 is Monday afternoon at Progressive Field. The series shifts to Chicago for Game 3 on Wednesday.

Bryan Hudson (1-0) relieved starter Hagen Smith and got Chase DeLauter to line out to left with the bases loaded in the third to get out of the inning.

The star of the White Sox staff was Grant Taylor, who became the sixth pitcher in MLB postseason history to work at least four innings and pick up a save, the first since Houston's Lance McCullers Jr. in the 2017 AL Championship Series against the New York Yankees.

“It was some of the best pitching I’ve ever seen. He was hitting his spots left and right and just attacking hitters," Teel said.

Taylor had a career-best six strikeouts and allowed two hits. The right-hander struck out the last four Guardians, including Travis Bazzana on a curveball to end the game.

“We’ve kind of done that the whole year of being able to hand it off to the next guy," Taylor said. "Other guys pitching some positions that aren’t super familiar, but being able to do that in the postseason was unbelievable and you also had that on the defense as well.”

Smith retired the first eight Cleveland hitters before loaded with bases with outs in the third on walks to Brayan Rocchio, Steven Kwan and José Ramírez. Bryan Hudson came in and got Chase DeLauter to line out to left.

Cleveland didn’t get its first hit until Travis Bazzana's line-drive double down the right-field line with two outs in the fourth off Anthony Kay. Austin Hedges drew a walk to load the bases again before Rocchio lined out to right.

“I was definitely in a blender today, getting different looks every time up from a different pitcher," said Guardians designated hitter Jo Adell, who struck out in all four of his at-bats. "We were trying to find it all day. Postseason is a pitcher’s duel and it’s one of those things. We’ve got to bounce back.”

After Miguel Vargas lined a hit to left leading off the fourth, Murakami drove a first-pitch elevated sinker 440 feet into the right-field stands for his first postseason home run.

The White Sox were feeling momentum starting to go their way coming into the inning after preventing the Guardians from scoring with the bases loaded.

“I really wanted the first run at a very important game, so I’m just really happy that I got one,” Murakami said through an interpreter.

Cleveland starter Parker Messick (0-1) allowed two runs and four hits in 4 1/3 innings. The rookie left-hander struck out six and walked two.

Montgomery extended the advantage to 3-0 in the seventh with a double down the left-field line to drive in Kyle Teel. It appeared as if Teel would be thrown out at the plate by Angel Martínez, but Hedges couldn't hang on to the throw after Teel's slide.

“That’s why I slid in just straight into the bag, because I know as a catcher myself, it’s really hard when a guy slides straight in because you got to pull on the ball," Teel said.

Cleveland RHP Gavin Williams (14-8, 3.76 ERA) gets the call for Game 2. Chicago has not announced a starter, but RHP Sean Burke is expected to pitch the bulk of the innings. Burke allowed three runs in four innings against Houston on Wednesday.

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Chicago White Sox relief pitcher Grant Taylor throws against the Cleveland Guardians during the sixth inning in Game 1 of baseball's American League Division Series, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Phil Long)

Chicago White Sox's Kyle Teel celebrates after scoring on an RBI double from Colson Montgomery during the seventh inning against the Cleveland Guardians in Game 1 of baseball's American League Division Series, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Phil Long)

Cleveland Guardians catcher Austin Hedges looks to receive the throw to the plate as Chicago White Sox's Kyle Teel (8) runs home to score on an RBI double from Colson Montgomery during the seventh inning in Game 1 of baseball's American League Division Series, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Phil Long)

Chicago White Sox's Munetaka Murakami tosses his bat after hitting a two-run home run against the Cleveland Guardians during the fourth inning in Game 1 of baseball's American League Division Series, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Phil Long)

Chicago White Sox relief pitcher Grant Taylor reacts to a win over the Cleveland Guardians in Game 1 of baseball's American League Division Series, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tim Phillis)

JERUSALEM (AP) — Who are the mystery pilots who stepped in to stabilize the FlyDubai flight as it hurtled toward disaster?

As of Saturday, three days after the uniformed crew members rushed to the cockpit to steady the Israel-bound plane carrying 182 people after a sickening plummet, they still haven't been publicly identified. FlyDubai has called them only on-duty crew members traveling on the plane. It’s not clear why the airline hasn't said more.

One passenger at the front of the plane, though, described the men’s actions in an interview with The Associated Press, giving one of the most detailed accounts of the yet-unsung heroes.

“This is one of the miracles,” said Daniel Schlichter, who was seated in the second row.

“That not in every flight they bring two extra pilots. In this case, they brought them because they should have brought the plane back from Tel Aviv to Dubai, and this is the only reason they were there.” The practice is called deadheading.

The two men responded after screaming passengers discovered what was unfolding in the cockpit. They said the copilot was attacking the captain over and over, and blood was everywhere. The captain, while badly wounded, managed to unlock the cockpit door.

After a passenger grabbed the copilot and pulled him out, and others grappled with the man to subdue him, Schlichter said that one of the traveling pilots practically hurdled the scrum to enter the cockpit and seize the controls.

“He was actually kind of jumping above the guys that were handling the terrorist, and he reached out to the pilot area and started to take over,” Schlichter said. “And then the other guy, the other pilot, joined in and they closed the door because they didn’t want anybody else to be there.”

Schlichter, like others, wasn’t sure where the two men had come from. But whoever the first one was, he moved very quickly.

“He acted really like a hero, taking over the plane and reacted like he understood exactly what is going on, and I think we owe him our lives not less than the other heroes that went on the flight,” Schlichter said.

Once the two entered the cockpit and closed the door, Schlichter wasn’t sure who did what inside. It took “quite a lot of minutes,” maybe 10 or more, to stabilize the plane after a descent so extreme that part of its rudder was torn away.

A mayday call was made as the men frantically sought a place to land.

Meanwhile, some of the frightened and wary passengers wondered about them and whether they could be trusted.

“After they managed to stabilize the airplane, actually they did not have any communication with us, and I have to tell you, I was worried about this,” Schlichter said.

He worried about an even worse situation — that the men might be “hijacking the plane into maybe Iran, or I don’t know where, because we’re actually not too far.”

But after about 45 minutes, he said, the pilots announced that they would be landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, and everything was going to be OK.

With that, Schlichter said, he decided to trust them. And it turned out to be true.

Daniel Schlichter looks at his phone as he speaks during an interview about an attack that occurred while he was aboard a FlyDubai flight bound for Israel, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Friday, Oct. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

An FlyDubai plane carrying Israeli passengers who had earlier been aboard another FlyDubai aircraft that made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia approaches Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)