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Pro Hog Hagen Smith Named Game 1 Starter for White Sox in ALDS
The Cleveland Guardians host the Chicago White Sox on Saturday for the American League Division Series opener, with managers Stephen Vogt and Will Venable leading their teams into a rare rookie pitching duel.
Chicago will start rookie Hagen Smith against Cleveland's Parker Messick; according to Sportradar, this marks only the 23rd postseason game featuring two rookie starting pitchers.
Japanese rookie slugger Munetaka Murakami led the White Sox with 35 home runs, while the Guardians' lineup used 145 different batting orders this season despite lacking any 20-homer batter.
Division rivals last faced two weeks ago when the Guardians took two of three games; Vogt observed signs of Chicago's rise from three consecutive 100-loss seasons last year.
Vogt said "there's no secrets," emphasizing the need to execute pitches and capitalize on mistakes to win three games. Venable noted only one run separated the teams this season.