KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Chicago White Sox officially completed one of the most stunning turnarounds in recent baseball history on Thursday night.
By throttling the Kansas City Royals 9-1 at Kauffman Stadium, the White Sox punched their ticket to the postseason, becoming the first team in MLB history to follow consecutive 100-loss seasons with a playoff berth.
Capitalizing on Chaos Early
The tone for the evening was set early as Chicago (82-77) capitalized on a shaky performance by Royals starter Randy Dobnak (3-5). Dobnak struggled to record outs, getting chased after retiring just four batters while allowing six runs (four earned) and committing two costly errors.
The White Sox jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, fueled by an RBI single from Miguel Vargas, a sacrifice fly by Andrew Benintendi, and an RBI knock from Tristan Peters. More miscues by Kansas City in the second inning blew the game wide open, allowing Braden Montgomery to score on a bizarre throwing error before Kyle Teel was plunked and Vargas drove in another run.
Pitching and Power
- Dominant Outing: David Sandlin (3-2) earned the victory against the organization that originally drafted him, limiting the Royals to just one run on five hits over six stellar innings.
- Offensive Highlights: Kyle Teel starred at the plate, homering and reaching base safely in all five of his plate appearances.
- Royals Milestone: Salvador Perez provided the lone run for Kansas City with a solo home run, marking his 20th home run of the season—a club record 10th time achieving the milestone.
What’s Next: The AL Central Race
With their first playoff appearance locked up since 2021, the White Sox are not done fighting. Improving to a franchise-turnaround high of 82 wins after three straight years of 100+ losses, Chicago sits just one game behind the Cleveland Guardians for the AL Central division lead.
The White Sox return home for a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies, while the Guardians close out their schedule with three games in Kansas City.
