CHICAGO WHITE SOX CLINCH FIRST PLAYOFF BERTH SINCE 2021

The Chicago White Sox have qualified for Major League Baseball's playoffs for the first time since 2021, beating the Kansas City Royals 9-1 on Thursday. The victory means the team reached the postseason after back-to-back seasons of more than 100 losses, having lost 101 games in 2023 and a modern-era record 121 games in 2024. Players celebrated on the field, and Munetaka Murakami said he had opened around 100 bottles of champagne. A CHSN reporter, Brooke Fletcher, filmed scenes including an impromptu conga line and players being sprayed with beer. One supporter wrote online that the White Sox had "done something that has never been done."

Chicago scored three runs in each of the first two innings, taking control of Thursday's game. Kyle Teel added a fourth-inning home run, while pitcher David Sandlin allowed only one run over six innings. Catcher Edgar Quero had told MLB.com before the season that the team, whose average age is 26, would improve because of its youth. Assistant general manager Jin Wong said players performed for the team rather than for themselves. Miguel Vargas, Murakami and Colson Montgomery have each hit more than 30 home runs this season.

The White Sox last won the World Series in 2005 and had gone five years without a playoff appearance. Reporters asked Pope Leo XIV, who is from Chicago and supports the White Sox, what part he had played in the team's return to the postseason, and he responded that "great things happen in Chicago." The club has become the first team to reach the playoffs after back-to-back seasons of 100 or more losses. Supporters marked the achievement with celebrations on the South Side of Chicago.