This will be remembered as the Chicago White Sox team that made history for all the right reasons.
Two years after losing a Major League Baseball-record 121 games and one year after their third consecutive 100-loss season, the White Sox are going to the playoffs. Their startling resurgence was completed Thursday, Sept. 24 when they defeated the Kansas City Royals 9-1 at Kauffman Stadium to clinch at least an American League wild-card berth.
The South Siders are still playing for a bigger prize. They pulled within a half-game of the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central with the victory. The Guardians were scheduled to play at Boston later Thursday and close the season with three games against the Royals. The White Sox finish with three games against the Colorado
Rockies, who were set to lose their 102nd game Thursday. The White Sox hold the tiebreaker against the Guardians.
Chicago has held first place for 82 games this year and most of the second half, until the Guardians took over Sept. 17. But the White Sox erased no doubt Thursday that they'd nail down a playoff spot.
They scored six runs in the first two innings, thanks to a pair of hits and two RBIs from Miguel Vargas, and after Kyle Teel's fourth-inning homer the rout was on, as right-hander David Sandlin held the Royals to one run over six innings.
Chicago's 82 wins are the most for a team coming off three 100-loss seasons, and second-most after just one 100-loss season. The White Sox also clinched a winning record for the first time since 2021, when they won 93 games and qualified most recently for the playoffs.
Those White Sox were beat in four games by the Houston Astros in the AL division series. These White Sox have a chance to win the division and receive a bye into the ALDS, where they'd face the winner of the AL West champion and No. 3 wild card.
They got here on the strength of several breakout performances and one MVP-caliber level-up from Vargas. Acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers in a three-team deal that also included the St. Louis Cardinals and sent Tommy Edman to the eventual World Series champions, Vargas put it all together this season, hitting 33 home runs, driving in 92 and posting an .842 OPS. He's also stolen 21 bases and needs just two walks to reach 100.
Rookies Tristan Peters and Sam Antonacci are hitting well above league average, with Peters providing 3.9 WAR thanks to excellent defense in center field. And with Teel returning from injuries, the return haul in the trade of Garrett Crochet to Boston is popping, with second baseman Chase Meidroth posting a .763 OPS and 4.3 WAR and Braden Montgomery part of a platoon in right field.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: No longer defined by 121 losses, White Sox punch ticket to MLB postseason
