CHICAGO -- Cleveland Guardians left-hander Parker Messick yearned for another opportunity to face the Chicago White Sox in the American League Division Series after losing his Game 1 start.

Messick will get his chance in Game 4 on Thursday as the Guardians aim to tie the best-of-five series at two games apiece.

Including the postseason, Messick has faced the AL Central rival White Sox five times this season, going 2-2 with a 3.00 ERA. He allowed two runs and four hits in 4 1/3 innings in the series opener on Saturday in Cleveland, walking two and striking out six.

Admitting that "there's certainly no secrets" entering his latest start against Chicago, Messick said he would channel the energy from his playoff debut. MLB's postseason slogan is "No Time Like October," and Messick understands why.

"I eat up the atmosphere, whether it's for me or against me, home or away," he said. "I think it's so fun to play in that kind of baseball game."

The White Sox were eager to treat fans at Rate Field to their own memorable night in Game 3 on Wednesday, returning with the opportunity to secure a home playoff series clincher for the first time since the 1906 World Series.

"Fans were great. They were loud," said White Sox catcher Kyle Teel, whose first-inning RBI double provided an early lead. "No doubt it was the loudest I've ever played in front of."

Cleveland ultimately silenced the crowd with a rebound performance.

Guardians pitchers collected a major league postseason single-game-record 19 strikeouts in a 9-3 victory. Meanwhile, an attack that managed a combined seven hits in the first two games of the series finished with 11 on Wednesday.

Cleveland third baseman Jose Ramirez delivered his first two hits of the series, including a two-run triple in the eighth inning that helped put the game away. Jo Adell hit a bases-clearing triple in a four-run third as part of a two-hit game, while Patrick Bailey and Brayan Rocchio added two hits apiece.

In Game 4, the White Sox will use Hagen Smith as an opener for the third time in the postseason. The 23-year-old left-hander tossed three scoreless innings in Chicago's wild-card opener against the Houston Astros, then threw 2 2/3 shutout frames vs. the Guardians in the ALDS opener.

Smith was the White Sox's third pitcher on Wednesday, and three runs scored during his stint, though only one was charged to him. He retired just two of the five batters he faced. In four outings against the Guardians this year, including the postseason, he has a 1-1 record with a 2.16 ERA.

The result was Chicago's first loss of the postseason as well as the initial hitch in manager Will Venable's "all hands on deck" approach to bullpen games in the playoffs.

Venable asserted that he has "100% confidence" the White Sox can regroup.

"We've done it all year," he said. "We've been in tough spots where we haven't played our best games, we've played good games. Whatever the result, these guys came back the next day. It's really kind of been the story of our group and being able to bounce back no matter what happens."

Re-igniting the offense against Messick, who struck out 29 batters in 25 2/3 regular-season innings vs. the White Sox, will be a focus.

Munetaka Murakami, Tristan Peters and Colson Montgomery each had three strikeouts Wednesday while four other White Sox whiffed twice.

Murakami belted a two-run homer against Messick in the fourth inning on Saturday, sparking Chicago in a 3-0 victory in which five pitchers combined on a three-hitter.

Cleveland lost 4-3 in Game 2 but responded Wednesday -- no surprise to manager Stephen Vogt.

"I think pressure is external," Vogt said. "You only feel the pressure you put on yourself. So we had pressure (Wednesday). It's win or go home. So it's no different (Thursday): Win or go home. We have an opportunity to win a ballgame and get back to Cleveland. We know they're going to come out ready to go because they want to close it out at home. It's going to be another exciting game.

"We only play exciting games against each other. It's been like that all year. We just need to come out and be ourselves."

--Kevin Druley, Field Level Media