CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago White Sox had their hopes of winning the AL Central dashed when Hunter Goodman hit his 40th and 41st homers to lift the Colorado Rockies in a 9-6 win Saturday night.
The White Sox needed to beat the Rockies to stay alive in the division race after the Cleveland Guardians won 11-5 at Kansas City on Saturday to take a two-game lead on the season's penultimate day.
Chicago will be the final AL wild card and will play on the road
against the AL West winner in a three-game Wild Card Series beginning Tuesday. The race between the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros for the West crown will come down to the season's last day.
Chicago is the first team to earn a playoff berth after consecutive 100-loss seasons.
The Rockies won for just the fourth time in 21 games. They improved to a major league-worst 58-103 after losing a club-record 119 last season.
The White Sox led or were tied for first in the AL Central from July 4 until Sept. 16.
Ryan Feltner (7-10) gave up three hits in 3 2/3 innings in relief for Colorado.
The Rockies went ahead 3-0 in the first. Davis Martin (9-8) committed a fielding error before allowing three singles, a walk and two earned runs while recording just two outs.
Goodman homered off Noah Schultz in the third, becoming the first Rockies player to hit 40 homers since Nolan Arenado in 2019. Ezequiel Tovar added his 13th homer in the fourth to make it 5-2. Goodman added a three-run shot in the Rockies’ four-run ninth.
Andrew Benintendi hit a three-run homer in the ninth for Chicago. Brenton Doyle and Luisangel Acuña also homered.
The White Sox had their chances. They put runners at the corners in the sixth, but Feltner struck out pinch hitter Colson Montgomery to end the inning. Montgomery extended the season record for strikeouts to 225.
LHP Anthony Kay (9-9, 4.53 ERA) is set to start for the White Sox in Sunday’s regular season finale. LHP Kyle Freeland (4-11, 6.58) will pitch for Colorado.
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