Chicago White Sox at Kansas City Royals
· Major League Baseball
9 - 1
White Sox clinch a playoff spot with a 9-1 rout of the Royals after back-to-back 100-loss seasons
They could still win the AL Central, too. The White Sox began the day one game behind the Cleveland Guardians.
Chicago has three games left at home against the last-place Colorado Rockies, while the Guardians wrap up their series in Boston on Thursday night before flying to Kansas City, where they coincidentally have three left against the Royals. The White Sox win mathematically eliminated Baltimore from postseason contention.
Kyle Teel homered and reached base five times, and five different White Sox drove in runs. David Sandlin (3-2) allowed one run on five hits over six innings against the club that drafted him out of Oklahoma four years ago.
Randy Dobnak (3-5) allowed six runs — four earned — for Kansas City. He also made two errors while retiring just four batters.
Salvador Perez homered for the Royals, reaching 20 in a season for a club-record 10th time.
The first couple of innings summed up what the White Sox have done so masterfully this season: They capitalized on mistakes.
Sam Antonacci opened the game with a single, Teel reached on a bunt when Dobnak's throw was wide of first base, and Miguel Vargas followed with an RBI single. Andrew Benintendi added a sacrifice fly and, after Vargas stole second to get into scoring position, Tristan Peters brought him home with another single to make it 3-0.
More hijinks ensued in the second: Braden Montgomery singled leading off, Dobnak walked Antonacci, then the right-hander threw to nobody covering first base for his second error. That allowed Montgomery to easily score from second.
By the time Dobnak plunked Teel and Vargas added another RBI single, the champagne was probably on ice in the clubhouse.
The White Sox improved to 82-77, a record number of wins for a club coming off three straight 100-loss years. They head home having won four of their last five with their first playoff appearance since 2021 in their pocket and a division title still in their sights.
The Royals welcome the Guardians on Friday night with LHP Noah Cameron (9-8, 3.92) on the mound.
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Scoring Summary
 |
9th Inning | Rave grounded out to second. |
|
9th Inning | Loftin doubled to right, Perez to third. |
|
9th Inning | Massey flied out to center. |
|
9th Inning | Perez walked. |
|
9th Inning | Pasquantino lined out to first. |
 |
9th Inning | Richards relieved Davis |
Statistics
 CHW |
 KC |
|
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Games Played | 1 |
| 1 | Team Games Played | 1 |
| 2 | Hit By Pitch | 0 |
| 9 | Ground Balls | 8 |
| 12 | Strikeouts | 10 |
| 8 | Runs Batted In | 1 |
| 1 | Sacrifice Hit | 0 |
| 12 | Hits | 7 |
| 1 | Stolen Bases | 0 |
| 6 | Walks | 1 |
| 0 | Catcher Interference | 0 |
| 9 | Runs | 1 |
| 0 | Ground Into Double Play | 1 |
| 1 | Sacrifice Flies | 0 |
| 38 | At Bats | 33 |
| 1 | Home Runs | 1 |
| 0 | Grand Slam Home Runs | 0 |
| 26 | Runners Left On Base | 9 |
| 0 | Triples | 0 |
| 1 | Game Winning RBIs | 0 |
| 0 | Intentional Walks | 0 |
| 2 | Doubles | 3 |
| 19 | Fly Balls | 15 |
| 0 | Caught Stealing | 0 |
| 180 | Pitches | 134 |
| 0 | Games Started | 0 |
| 1 | Pinch At Bats | 0 |
| 0 | Pinch Hits | 0 |
| 0.0 | Player Rating | 0.0 |
| 1 | Is Qualified | 1 |
| 1 | Is Qualified In Steals | 0 |
| 17 | Total Bases | 13 |
| 48 | Plate Appearances | 34 |
| 162.0 | Projected Home Runs | 162.0 |
| 3 | Extra Base Hits | 4 |
| 8.3 | Runs Created | 2.7 |
| .316 | Batting Average | .212 |
| .000 | Pinch Hit Average | .000 |
| .447 | Slugging Percentage | .394 |
| .316 | Secondary Average | .212 |
| .426 | On Base Percentage | .235 |
| .873 | OBP Pct + SLG Pct | .629 |
| 0.5 | Ground To Fly Ball Ratio | 0.5 |
| 8.0 | Runs Created Per 27 Outs | 2.7 |
| 54.0 | Batter Rating | 20.0 |
| 38.0 | At Bats Per Home Run | 33.0 |
| 1.00 | Stolen Base Percentage | 0.00 |
| 3.75 | Pitches Per Plate Appearance | 3.94 |
| .132 | Isolated Power | .182 |
| 0.50 | Walk To Strikeout Ratio | 0.10 |
| .125 | Walks Per Plate Appearance | .029 |
| .000 | Secondary Average Minus Batting Average | .000 |
| 17.0 | Runs Produced | 2.0 |
| 0.9 | Runs Ratio | 1.0 |
| 0.6 | Patience Ratio | 0.4 |
| 0.4 | Balls In Play Average | 0.3 |
| 98.3 | MLB Rating | 72.3 |
| 0.0 | Offensive Wins Above Replacement | 0.0 |
| 0.0 | Wins Above Replacement | 0.0 |
Game Information
Location: Kansas City, Missouri
Attendance: 15,592 | Capacity:
2026 American League Central Standings
| TEAM | W | L | PCT | GB | STRK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Cleveland |
- | 77 | L1 | 0.52469134 | 85 |
| Chicago |
1 | 78 | W1 | 0.5185185 | 84 |
 Minnesota |
8 | 85 | W1 | 0.47530866 | 77 |
 Detroit |
9 | 86 | L1 | 0.4691358 | 76 |
| Kansas City |
16 | 93 | W1 | 0.42592594 | 69 |