CHICAGO -- Matthew Boyd and Austin Hedges sat at the circular table in the visiting clubhouse before Wednesday afternoon’s game at Guaranteed Rate Field. Hedges had a stack of papers with all his scouting work for the White Sox offense. Boyd sat with his computer open, looking at his work, while taking handwritten notes on everything Hedges was saying.

This is the typical process for Guardians starters and catchers before every game, but Boyd’s history hasn’t been the most triumphant at this ballpark. Aside from when he lost a no-hitter in the ninth inning in 2017, the other 11 of his 12 career starts in Chicago ended in a loss for the Tigers. But this is a new and improved Boyd. This is a healthy Boyd, who continues to claim he’s never felt this good in his entire career. This is the Boyd who could flip the script.

And that he did, leading the Guardians to a 6-4 victory over the White Sox. Cleveland held a four-game lead over the Royals in the AL Central standings at the time the game concluded.

Eight pitches in, and Boyd had already recorded two strikeouts, with an 0-2 count on Bryan Ramos. What was so close to being an immaculate inning was spoiled by a foul tip. But it was clear Boyd was once again locked in, at least to start.

“I felt really good today,” Boyd said. “With how good I felt, I shouldn’t have fallen behind in some counts and when it came down to it, just chances to put guys away and missed.”

Wednesday’s performance was far from his best of the year, mostly because of the third inning that went off the rails. Boyd was on the rubber when the White Sox scored all four of their runs, but only one of those was earned after Andrés Giménez committed a throwing error when the second batter of the inning came to the plate. Between that, a misplayed popup in foul territory, a balk and a line drive that hit Boyd in the non-throwing hand, the White Sox cut the Guardians’ lead to one.

But Boyd didn’t crack. The grueling third inning ran up his pitch count, forcing him to come out of the game after just 4 1/3 innings having thrown 95 pitches. He’d be the first to tell you that he wishes he could’ve gone deeper on a day when the Guardians were short-staffed in the bullpen, having covered eight innings the night before. But he navigated around the adversity, struck out a season-high nine hitters and proved that he can grit through difficult situations.

“That third inning wasn’t our prettiest baseball and I didn’t feel like he had his 'A' stuff today,” Hedges said, “but meanwhile, he’s still striking everybody out.”

As the Guardians inch closer to the playoffs, Boyd’s case to take the ball in a pivotal game is only growing stronger. Cleveland has now won five of the first six games Boyd has started since coming off the injured list. He has a .190/.244/.314 opponent slash line against him this season. He’s also limited his opponents to one earned run or fewer in five of his six starts.

A team needs reliable starting pitching in the postseason. It also needs starters who can dig deep when they don’t have their best stuff. Boyd continues to prove he can be that guy. And even when he’s not, the Guardians know that his presence is beneficial to this team.

“He’s so poised. He’s so prepared,” Hedges said. “He’s so beneficial for our young pitchers here. He’s so good at communicating with them when he’s not pitching.”

The “Let’s hope for the best” free-agent signing in June, when Boyd was still in the process of recovering from Tommy John surgery with no way to prove he’d come back better than before, continues to prove to be one of the best chances the Guardians could have taken.

Standing outside the visiting clubhouse after a victory, Boyd thought back to what life was like in January, when he was sitting at home, wondering what the future held. He was always confident something positive would come from this journey. But he couldn’t have imagined it all going this perfectly.

“I wouldn’t have been surprised, but it’s like, ‘How are we gonna get there?’” Boyd said. “The gratitude I have to be here with the squad and to be part of this amazing group of guys, it’s immense.”