Chicago White Sox’s Munetaka Murakami (5) and Braden Montgomery celebrate after their baseball game against the Kansas City Royals, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026, in Kansas City, Mo.
Charlie Riedel/AP Photo/Charlie Riedel
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Chicago White Sox became the first team to follow consecutive 100-loss seasons by reaching the playoffs on Thursday, throttling the Kansas City Royals 9-1 to ensure no worse than one of the three AL wild-card spots for the postseason.
They could still win the AL Central, too. The White Sox began the day one game behind the Cleveland Guardians.
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Chicago has three games left at home against the last-place Colorado Rockies, while the Guardians wrap up their series in Boston on Thursday night before flying to Kansas City, where they coincidentally have three left against the Royals. The White Sox win mathematically eliminated Baltimore from postseason contention.
Kyle Teel homered and reached base five times, and five different White Sox drove in runs. David Sandlin (3-2) allowed one run on five hits over six innings against the club that drafted him out of Oklahoma four years ago.
Randy Dobnak (3-5) allowed six runs — four earned — for Kansas City. He also made two errors while retiring just four batters.
Salvador Perez homered for the Royals, reaching 20 in a season for a club-record 10th time.
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The first couple of innings summed up what the White Sox have done so masterfully this season: They capitalized on mistakes.
Sam Antonacci opened the game with a single, Teel reached on a bunt when Dobnak’s throw was wide of first base, and Miguel Vargas followed with an RBI single. Andrew Benintendi added a sacrifice fly and, after Vargas stole second to get into scoring position, Tristan Peters brought him home with another single to make it 3-0.
More hijinks ensued in the second: Braden Montgomery singled leading off, Dobnak walked Antonacci, then the right-hander threw to nobody covering first base for his second error. That allowed Montgomery to easily score from second.
By the time Dobnak plunked Teel and Vargas added another RBI single, the champagne was probably on ice in the clubhouse.
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The White Sox improved to 82-77, a record number of wins for a club coming off three straight 100-loss years. They head home having won four of their last five with their first playoff appearance since 2021 in their pocket and a division title still in their sights.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Ronny Simon raced home on Spencer Horwitz’s eighth inning sacrifice fly and Pittsburgh assured themselves of the club’s first non-losing season in eight years with a win over St. Louis.
Simon reached on a walk by Ryne Stanek (2-3), advanced to second on a wild pitch and scooted to third when the throw from catcher Ivan Herrera skipped into center field for an error. Horwitz’s flyball to center was plenty deep enough for Simon to score.
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Luke Weaver (4-1) got the final out of the eighth for Pittsburgh. Mason Montgomery struck out the side in the ninth for his 17th save in 19 chances as Pittsburgh improved to 81-78 with three games to go. The club’s previous non-losing season came in 2018 when it won 82 games.
Reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes ended an uneven year by his standards with 6 1/3 excellent innings in his 32nd and final start.
The 24-year-old, whose performance this year has been met with mild criticism locally, allowed one run, three hits and two walks and six strikeouts. He received a loud ovation when he was removed by manager Don Kelly after recording his 200th strikeout of the season when Cardinals designated hitter Leo Bernal was caught looking leading off the seventh.
Skenes became just the second pitcher in the franchise’s 145-year history to reach 200 strikeouts in consecutive seasons. He finished 10-11 with a 3.82 ERA, nearly double the MLB-leading 1.97 ERA he posted in 2025.
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St. Louis fell to 77-82, assured of consecutive losing seasons for the first time since the shortened 1994 and 1995 seasons.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Josh Jung and Corey Seager homered, Kumar Rocker pitched five solid innings and Texas closed out its home schedule with a win over New York that ensured that the Rangers would remain at least tied for the AL West lead heading into the regular season’s final weekend.
Texas (79-80) stopped a three-game losing streak and moved a half-game ahead of Houston, which played Thursday night at the Athletics. The Astros (78-80) hold the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Rangers.
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Texas, which finishes the regular season with three games in Minnesota, went ahead to stay on Jung’s two-run homer in the first inning off rookie left-hander Zac Thornton (5-6). Seager snapped an 0-for-15 skid when he led off the sixth with his 19th homer.
Rocker (6-11) struck out four while allowing one run and three hits. Jordan Montgomery, the fourth Rangers reliever, worked a perfect ninth for his second big league save. He’s made 161 starts and 17 relief appearances over nine big league seasons.
Francisco Lindor led off the game with a double and scored on Carson Benge’s two-out single to put New York up 1-0. Benge has a Mets rookie record 160 hits.
Thornton struck out four and walked one in his five innings. He allowed four hits and the only runs he surrendered were on Jung’s 12th homer. Seager went deep off Jefry Yan, another rookie.
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CHICAGO (AP) — Pete Crow-Armstrong joined the 40-40 club by stealing his 40th base to go along with his major league-leading 45 home runs, and Chicago clinched its second straight postseason berth a victory over Miami.
Seiya Suzuki homered for the Cubs (88-71), who assured themselves of one of the NL’s three wild card berths.
Chicago also was a wild card last year, when the Cubs beat San Diego in the first round and lost to Milwaukee in a Division Series. The Cubs will be making consecutive postseason appearances for the first time since four straight from 2015-18, which in 2016 included their first championship since 1908.
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The Cubs clinched their berth shortly after the White Sox earned their postseason trip with a 9-1 win at Kansas City.
Miami (78-81) was assured its third straight non-winning season.
A favorite to win the NL MVP award, Crow-Armstrong became the seventh 40-40 player, joining a group that includes Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani and Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. Jose Canseco was the first with the 1988 Oakland Athletics.
DIAMONDBACKS 12, ROCKIES 8
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DENVER (AP) — Gabriel Moreno and Nolan Arenado homered in a six-run first inning, and Arizona had a season-high 18 hits, keeping its slim postseason chances alive with a win over Colorado.
Arizona (85-74) began the day three games back for the final NL wild card with four games to play and went on to extend its winning streak to five heading into a weekend series at San Diego.
Moreno hit his 16th homer, a three-run drive, and Arenado hit his 29th, a two-run shot. Arenado, who had three hits, has eight homers in September and reached safely in 18 straight games.
Arizona had its most hits since 21 on June 20 last year, also at Coors Field.
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Colorado has lost 16 of 19, getting swept for the 13th time this year, and dropped to a major league-worst 57-102, the third-most losses in club history. The Rockies are the first team with four straight 100-loss seasons since the 1962-65 New York Mets.
The Rockies have allowed a major league-high 137 runs in the first inning. Colorado had 17 hits, its most in a Coors Field loss since June 16, 2019, against San Diego.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Milwaukee reached 100 wins for the first time, and Jackson Chourio hit his 25th homer to lift them to a victory over Philadelphia that slowed its playoff push.
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The Phillies needed a win to at least have a shot at clinching their fifth straight trip to the playoffs. They instead can try again to clinch for the third straight game on Friday against Tampa Bay.
Philadelphia surely play without NL batting leader Luis Arraez after he came off with a sprained left ankle after he tried to avoid a tag at first base.
Milwaukee reached one more milestone to go with its National League Central title and a first-round postseason bye. The Brewers are the first team this year to 100 wins and are trying to hold off the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers for the No. 1 seed in the NL playoffs. Their previous high was 97 wins last year.
Brewers fans crowded the seats behind the dugout and held “100” signs as players left the field.
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Bryce Harper tied the game 1-1 with an RBI single in the third.
Jake Bauers hit the tiebreaking single off José Alvarado (5-4) in the eighth inning, and Cooper Pratt and Joey Ortiz added run-scoring singles in the inning for a 4-1 lead. Chourio hit a solo shot in the ninth.
JoJo Romero (3-3) got the win and Antonio Senzatela earned his fourth save.
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BOSTON (AP) — Angel Martínez homered and Joey Cantillo threw five one-hit innings in a bulk relief role as Cleveland clinched a playoff spot for the third straight year with a win over Boston.
Cleveland is guaranteed at least an American League wild card and retains a one-game lead over the Chicago White Sox in the AL Central. The division winner is likely to earn the No. 2 seed and a bye into the Division Series.
Chicago has the head-to-head tiebreaker.
Cleveland starter Daniel Espino threw one inning before giving way to Cantillo (11-9), who allowed one hit with four strikeouts. He’s now thrown 15 straight scoreless innings since being removed from the rotation.
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Martínez hit his 18th homer of the season in the second inning. All-Star closer Cade Smith struck out the side in the ninth for his major league-leading 41st save.
ATLANTA (AP) — Elly De La Cruz hit his 30th homer, Héctor Rodríguez and rookie Carlos Jorge also went deep, and Cincinnati rallied from an early deficit to beat NL East champion Atlanta.
With the loss, Atlanta secured the No. 3 seed for the National League playoffs, behind Milwaukee and the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Braves (93-66) will host a best-of-three Wild Card Series starting Tuesday.
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Rodríguez’s two-run homer in the sixth inning off AJ Smith-Shawver (0-3) made it 7-6. De La Cruz extended his career high with a shot to right field in the third, and he needs one stolen base for the fourth 30/30 season in Reds history.
Jorge led off the game with his first career homer.
Connor Phillips (2-0), the third of six Cincinnati pitchers, got four outs. Emilio Pagán worked the ninth for his 25th save.
Atlanta scored four runs in the bottom of the first, but Cincinnati quickly rallied against Tyler Mahle. The right-hander gave up five runs in five innings in his final start before the playoffs. It was his worst outing since joining the Braves from San Francisco at the trade deadline. He gave up two runs or fewer in each of his previous eight starts with Atlanta.
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NEW YORK (AP) — Rookie George Lombard Jr. scored on an incredible slide and followed with a tiebreaking. two-run homer as Cam Schlitter finished his season with an AL-best 1.95 ERA in the New York’s comeback win over Tampa Bay.
Lombard, who debuted on Aug. 4, had three RBIs for the Yankees (92-67), who overcame a 4-0 deficit. He hit an RBI double in the seventh, jumped over catcher Liam Hicks to score in the eighth and followed with his fourth homer in seven games.
Austin Wells started New York’s comeback with a sixth-inning homer off Jake Woodford and Lombard cut the deficit to 4-2 in the three-run seventh.
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He took third on Brady Hopkins’ wild pitch and scored when another pitch bounced to the backstop. As the ball caromed back to Hicks, Lombard popped up well in front of the plate on his feet-first slide and jumped over the catcher while twisting his body in fair territory and reaching down to slap his right hand on the plate.
Paul Goldschmidt followed with a single that tied the score 4-4.
Lombard hit his seventh home run of the season in the eighth, driving a sinker from Steven Matz (5-6) into the left field second deck. Lombard briefly watched the ball soar into the seats before starting his home run trot.
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Making his final start before the AL Wild Card Series next week, Schlitter allowed two runs — one earned — in three innings. The 25-year-old right-hander went 14-6 and struck out 239 over 193 2/3 innings in his first full major league season. He finished with the Yankees’ third-lowest ERA for a qualified pitcher behind Spud Chandler’s 1.64 ERA in 1943 and Ron Guidry’s 1.74 ERA in 1978, according to the team.