Guardians’ Patrick Bailey joins exclusive MLB playoff list with big Game 4 vs. White Sox appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Patrick Bailey knows what was on the line on Thursday, answering the call in Game 4 of the 2026 American League Division Series between the Cleveland Guardians and the Chicago White Sox.
The 27-year-old Bailey came through for his team in the fifth inning, as he faced White Sox pitcher Erick Fedde. With the Guardians trailing by two runs, Bailey subbed in for starter Austin Hedges. Bailey got ahead with a 3-1 count before launching a solo homer that went 376 feet deep for Cleveland’s first run of the game. A couple of batters later, Jose Ramirez hit a two-run blast to put the Guardians ahead, 3-2.
The White Sox would grab the lead before the end of the fifth frame, but the Guardians tied the score at 4-4 after a Travis Bazzana RBI double in the sixth inning. Bailey followed that up with an RBI single to give the Guarfiansa 5-4 lead before scoring a run himself on a Jose Ramirez single.
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When it was all said and done, the Guardians won Game 4, 9-5, to send the series back to Cleveland for a Game 5 on Saturday.
What Bailey did in Game 4 was seen just four other times in the MLB playoffs history, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com.
“Patrick Bailey is the 5th player with multiple RBI hits in a postseason game he did not start (RBI official since 1920), ” Langs shared on X, formerly Twitter.
The other players to have done so are Raul Ibanez, Brian Hunter, Rob Wolfong and Dusty Rhodes. Ibanez was the most recent one (2012) before Bailey joined that extremely exlusive club of hitters.
Bailey now has some playoff moments to remember in the short time he’s been with Cleveland. He was traded by the San Francisco Giants to the Guardians in May for Matt Wilkinson and a 2026 first-rounder.
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