White Sox make playoffs after 3 straight 100-loss seasons — SkimNews
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- White Sox clinched at least one of three AL wild-card spots with a 9-1 win over Kansas City, becoming the first team in major league history to reach the postseason after three consecutive 100-loss seasons (324 losses over the prior three years).
- DraftKings had the White Sox at 16-1 preseason odds to make the playoffs, tied with no one — only Colorado (35-1) carried longer odds — and Chicago started 6-13 before a young core flipped the season.
- Garrett Crochet trade dividends paid off in the clinching game: Kyle Teel (homer, five times on base, three runs scored), Chase Meidroth (extending a 15-game on-base streak) and Braden Montgomery were all in the lineup that built a 6-0 lead after two innings.
- Both Chicago MLB teams clinched postseason spots on the same day for the first time ever, as the Cubs beat Miami 2-1 to lock up an NL wild-card — the fourth simultaneous postseason appearance for the two franchises after 1906, 2008 and 2020.
- White Sox ended Thursday one game behind Cleveland in the AL Central with three games left against last-place Colorado, leaving a division title still in play before the champagne settled — manager Will Venable told the team to 'back to business tomorrow.'
- Munetaka Murakami (33 HR, 74 RBI on a two-year, $34 million deal signed in December), Miguel Vargas (33 HR, 92 RBI, drawing MVP chatter) and Colson Montgomery (31 HR, 87 RBI while tying Mark Reynolds' season record of 223 strikeouts) powered the lineup that demolished Royals pitching.
Why it matters: The White Sox went from a record 121 losses two seasons ago to a 9-1 clincher, and the December 2024 Garrett Crochet trade is the engine — three of the players Chicago landed are now everyday contributors in a lineup anchored by Murakami's 33 homers. With one game separating them from Cleveland and three games against last-place Colorado remaining, the rebuild has a division title still within reach, not just a wild-card cameo.
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