White Sox 9, Royals 1: Chicago Clinches October at Kauffman

Six runs before Kansas City had an answer

September 24, 2026 - Kansas City - The Chicago White Sox needed a win to make October official. They had it before the fourth inning. Miguel Vargas singled Sam Antonacci home in the first. Andrew Benintendi lifted a sacrifice fly. Tristan Peters singled Vargas home. 3-0. They did it again in the second. Vargas singled. Munetaka Murakami forced a run across. 6-0. Chicago beat the Kansas City Royals 9-1 at Kauffman Stadium and clinched a postseason berth, the club's first since winning the American League Central in 2021.

Partly cloudy. 72 degrees. Wind 4 mph in from right. First pitch 1:10 p.m. Attendance 15,592. The game lasted 2 hours, 35 minutes. Chicago had 12 hits and no errors. Kansas City had seven hits and two errors.

Kyle Teel was on base all afternoon: 2-for-2, a walk, two hit-by-pitches, three runs. He scored in the first. He scored in the second. He homered to center in the fourth, his fifth of the year. 7-0.

"They have belief in themselves, belief in each other," manager Will Venable told MLB.com. "That can carry you a long way."

Sandlin for six, Perez for one

David Sandlin (the win) threw six innings: five hits, one earned, no walks, seven strikeouts, 85 pitches, 59 strikes. The only run he allowed was Salvador Perez's 20th homer, a line drive to left-center in the fourth. 8-1 after Peters had already forced Vargas home in the top half.

Huascar Brazobán threw a scoreless seventh with two strikeouts. Tyler Davis threw a scoreless eighth. Trevor Richards finished the ninth. Nobody in the Chicago bullpen needed a save. The White Sox did not give the lead back.

Randy Dobnak (the loss) lasted 1 1/3: six hits, six runs, four earned, one walk, one strikeout, 42 pitches. A wild pitch was on the sheet. He hit Teel. Anthony Gose cleaned up the second with 1 2/3 scoreless and three strikeouts. Alex Lange allowed Teel's homer through one inning. Jose Cuas walked Benintendi with the bases loaded in the fifth, Antonacci scoring. 9-1. Spencer Bivens threw two scoreless with four strikeouts. Nolan Hoffman threw the ninth.

Twelve hits, and a catcher who never sat

Antonacci went 2-for-5 with a walk and three runs. Vargas went 2-for-5 with a walk, a stolen base, two RBI, and two runs. Chase Meidroth went 2-for-3 with a double. Braden Montgomery went 2-for-5 with a double. Benintendi did not have a hit. He still drove in two, one on the fly and one on the walk. Peters drove in two.

John Rave went 2-for-4 with a double for Kansas City. Kyle Isbel went 2-for-3. Perez's homer was the only extra-base damage that scored. Bobby Witt Jr. and Vinnie Pasquantino were in the middle of forceouts that still let Chicago keep adding. The Royals are 68-91. Thursday was a home game they never led.

The White Sox are 82-77. The clinch does not hand them the Central. It does hand them October. Venable's club still has the division in sight after three straight seasons of 100-plus losses, including the 121-loss 2024 team.

"Everybody in here is really friends with each other. There's no egos at all. We look forward to coming to the field," Benintendi said, per the MLB recap. "Years in the past, it would be like, 'Oh gosh. How long do we have to be at the field?' We were losing. It's been a lot more enjoyable this year."

Catcher Edgar Quero, who is off the playoff roster, told MLB.com this group had been proving a Spring Training prediction. Thursday was the afternoon the math caught up to the belief. Six runs in two innings. Teel on base five times. Sandlin through six. A 9-1 that did not need extra innings or a late rally.

Chicago plays meaningful baseball in late September because the parts finally added up. Kansas City supplied the afternoon and the two errors. The White Sox supplied the rest.

AthX Engine after the baseball

AthX Engine (our projection and scoring system) put Chicago at 20 team fantasy points, first on the 12-game slate. Sandlin had 20 pitching FP. Teel had 12 hitting FP. Vargas had 6. Antonacci had 6.

Fantasy points measure the night under platform scoring rules. Share prices also move with traders through dynamic pricing. They are related. They are not the same number.

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*Sources: MLB.com schedule; MLB Gameday wrap; ESPN scoreboard; ESPN box score; AthX Engine daily scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*