George bracket: 1961 White Sox beat 2017 Blue Jays in seven

Game 1: Blue Jays 9, White Sox 5
WP: Biagini (1-0)
LP: McLish (0-1)
HR: Donaldson (1), Tulowitzki (1)

Game 2: White Sox 6. Blue Jays 1
WP: Pizzaro (1-0)
LP: Estrada (0-1)
HR: A Smith (1), Sievers (1), Fl Robinson (1)

Game 3: White Sox 4, Blue Jays 3 (11 innings)
WP: Larsen (1-0)
LP: Barnes (0-1)
HR: A Smith (2), Bautista (1)

Game 4: White Sox 7, Blue Jays 5
WP: Wynn (1-0)
LP: Sanchez (0-1)
Save: Lown (1)
HR: Martin 2 (2), Pillar (1), Sievers (2)

Game 5: Blue Jays 8, White Sox 0
WP: Stroman (1-0)
LP: Pierce (0-1)
HR: Pearce (1), Donaldson (2), Smoak (1)

Game 6: Blue Jays 7, White Sox 4
WP: Estrada (1-1)
LP: Pizzaro (1-1)
HR: Sievers (3), Donaldson (3)

Game 7: White Sox 5, Blue Jays 4
WP: Pierce (1-1)
LP: Happ (0-1)
Save: Lown
HR: Donaldson (4), Bautista (2)

The White Sox were outscored by the Blue Jays but won the three closest games of the series to advance.

The Jays flew off to the early advantage, scoring five times in the first three innings of the opener off Billy Pierce. The White Sox tied it in the fourth, only to see the Jays rock reliever Cal McLish for four more runs and a lead they would not relinquish.

The Sox evened the series in the second game as Juan Pizzaro held the Jays to five hits and one run in eight innings. He was backed by long balls from Roy Sievers, Floyd Robinson and Al Smith.

The series moved to Toronto and the retractable roofed Rogers Center. Jose Bautista's third inning homer put the Jays up 3-1, but that was the end of their scoring off Ray Herbert and Don Larsen. The Jays turned three straight singles to open the seventh into a pair of runs, and the action was minimal until Smith homered in the 11th off Danny Barnes. Larsen retired all six men he faced in the 10th and 11th innings for the win.

The Sox pummeled Aaron Sanchez for six runs in the third inning of Game Four, with Sievers clubbing a three-run bomb. Early Wynn survived a fifth-inning bat-around to get the win. Russell Martin homered twice for the losers, the second part of a back-to-back salvo with Kevin Pillar.

Marcus Stroman kept the Jays alive with a four-hit shutout in Game Five. Steve Pearce's three-run homer in the first knocked Billy Pierce out of the game, with McLish eating six innings in relief.

The series returned to Chicago's Comiskey Park, and the Jays again beat up a lefty starter in the first inning. This time it was Juan Pizzaro, dinged for four runs in the opening frame, including a two-run homer from Josh Donaldson. Pizzaro settled down and the Jays pulled within a run after six innings, but the Jays scored three times in the eight and ninth innings to pull away.

Pierce, after his early departure in Game Five, started Game Seven on two days rest for Chicago and allowed just one run in six innings, a homer by Donaldson. The Sox knocked J.A. Happ out with a four-run first inning, and while they got just one run the rest of the way off the Jays relievers, that was barely enough. The Jays scored three runs in the top of the ninth with Bautista hitting a two-run homer off Turk Lown, but it was not enough.

Player of the Series: Al Smith

Pitcher restrictions: Russ Kemmerer should not pitch more than one inning in the opener of Round 2.

Projected rotation: Herbert-Wynn-Pizzaro-Pierce-(Herbert)-(Wynn or McLish)-(Pizzaro)