White Sox Clinch First Playoff Berth Since 2021 With 9-1 Rout of Royals

The Chicago White Sox clinched their first playoff berth since 2021 with a 9-1 rout of the Kansas City Royals on Thursday at Kauffman Stadium, becoming the first team in major league history to reach the postseason after consecutive 100-loss seasons — and doing so after three straight 100-loss campaigns, Reuters and ESPN reported.

Chicago improved to 82-77 and locked up no worse than one of three American League wild-card spots. The White Sox remained a game behind the AL Central-leading Cleveland Guardians (83-76), who later won 1-0 at Boston. Chicago holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over Cleveland; whichever of those two fails to win the division will land as the third AL wild card, Reuters said.

Miguel Vargas had two hits and two RBIs, Kyle Teel homered, and rookie right-hander David Sandlin worked six strong innings as the visitors broke the game open early. The White Sox scored three runs in each of the first two innings against Royals starter Randy Dobnak. Vargas and Tristan Peters contributed RBI singles in the first, and Vargas added another run-scoring single in the second, according to Reuters.

Sandlin (3-2) allowed one run and five hits with zero walks and seven strikeouts on 85 pitches. Dobnak (3-5) lasted only 1 1/3 innings, surrendering six runs (four earned) and six hits while throwing a wild pitch and committing an error on a pickoff attempt. Teel reached reliever Alex Lange for a solo shot to start the fourth, and Salvador Perez’s leadoff homer in the bottom of the fourth — his 20th of the season — made it 8-1, Reuters reported.

For readers following the race on Sports, the clinch capped a turnaround that looked improbable even mid-April. Chicago started 6-13 and opened the year as 16-1 DraftKings long shots to make the playoffs — tied for the second-longest odds behind Colorado — after losing 121 games two seasons ago (a post-1900 record) and 102 last year, ESPN said.

Young bats fueled the climb. Munetaka Murakami, signed to a two-year, $34 million deal after Chicago paid a $6,575,000 posting fee to the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, has 33 homers and drove in his 74th run Thursday. Vargas has drawn MVP chatter with 33 homers and 92 RBIs. Colson Montgomery, who tied Mark Reynolds’ season strikeout record of 223 on Thursday, has also hit 31 homers and driven in 87, ESPN reported.

The December 2024 trade that sent left-handed ace Garrett Crochet to the Boston Red Sox also paid dividends in the clincher. Three players Chicago received — Teel, Chase Meidroth and Braden Montgomery — were in Thursday’s lineup. Teel reached base five times and scored three runs. Meidroth extended his on-base streak to 15 games. Braden Montgomery scored during the three-run second that broke the game open, ESPN said. The White Sox’s 12th postseason appearance was effectively built from that return package plus the Murakami signing.

On the field after the final out, the White Sox formed a handshake line rather than a dugout-railing celebration, saving the champagne for a plastic-draped visiting clubhouse. “This means a lot for us,” Vargas said. “We’ve been chasing this moment for a long time.” Manager Will Venable said the restrained on-field reaction reflected an expectation that the berth would come — and that unfinished business remains. “We’ll have a fun plane ride, but then back to business tomorrow,” he told ESPN.

That business is the division. Chicago headed home for three games against last-place Colorado while the Guardians prepared to finish the weekend in Kansas City. The White Sox won the season series from the Royals 9-4 and have won four of five; Kansas City (68-91) has lost six of seven. Bobby Witt Jr. reached base in a 21st consecutive game for the Royals despite the blowout, Reuters noted.

Thursday was also a citywide clinch day: the Cubs sealed an NL wild-card berth with a 2-1 win over the Marlins, marking the fourth time both Chicago clubs reached the postseason (after 1906, 2008 and 2020) and the first time they clinched on the same day, ESPN said. For a franchise that spent three years as baseball’s punchline, the White Sox’s plastic-tarped clubhouse party framed the larger point of the night — a historic recovery from consecutive 100-loss seasons into October baseball, with a division title still in play.