KANSAS CITY – Are you in the market for a slogan to encompass this amazing, bordering on astonishing, 2026 White Sox season, moving closer by the day to the postseason?
Well, third baseman Miguel Vargas might have come up with one prior to a 14-11 victory over the Royals on Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium. Vargas was asked about the White Sox coming back from Friday’s tough loss to the Tigers, in which they blew a five-run lead and a six-run lead en route to an 11-8 setback, only to now win three games in a row.
Without missing a beat, Vargas put forth the following:
“It’s the 2026 White Sox,” said the reigning American League Player of the Week. “We don’t give up.”
Vargas has espoused that theory many times throughout this season, even telling MLB.com recently how he got goosebumps when reminded of talking about his team playing 27 outs in every game and gaining an advantage because of that attitude. But Tuesday’s first of six playoff games before the playoffs, with two more in Kansas City and then three at home against the Rockies, was all about a true offensive outburst.
For the ninth time this season, the White Sox had four-plus home runs to give them 203 as a team. That list includes Chase Meidroth (who drove in five), Brenton Doyle, Randal Grichuk and Munetaka Murakami, who launched his 33rd in the seventh inning. Grichuk finished with four hits and was a triple away from hitting for the cycle, which almost became a reality when Royals center fielder Kyle Isbel dove for his seventh-inning double and trapped the baseball.
“Yeah, if it gets by him,” Grichuk said of just missing the cycle. “I was just hoping it got down and saw him leaving his feet. Figured he was either going to catch it or could've booted it a little bit. Unfortunately he trapped it, so I'll take a double.”
“It was close,” Meidroth said. “That guy, he’s good out there. A four-hit day is a four-hit day. Just as good.”
The White Sox moved to 81 wins for the season, meaning they will finish at .500 or above for the first time since 2022 after losing 100-plus games in three straight seasons. They have improved by 21 games over last season and 40 over a dreadful '24 campaign.
Their bigger focus still is reaching the postseason, and they remained one game behind the Guardians (82-75) in the AL Central, as Cleveland edged the Red Sox 3-2 in Boston.
If the White Sox win again Wednesday and the Rangers (78-79) lose again to the Mets, the South Siders will be in the playoffs for the first time since 2021. It would be another piece added to this great climb, but the White Sox are focused on Wednesday’s game, with Bryan Hudson opening.
"Honestly, we're kind of getting back to our old selves from most of the year,” Grichuk said. “We're relaxed, making jokes, keeping things light, but still playing the game hard between the lines. I feel like that's what made us good.
“We didn't dwell on bad things in here, we didn't let it linger. Just took a new day and took it head-on. I feel like that's what we're doing right now."
Grichuk said that change came during last week’s series in Cleveland despite losing two out of three at Progressive Field.
“I don't know if knowing that series was big loosened guys up and let guys have fun but still play hard,” Grichuk said. “I don't really know what it was. I knew I felt the sense of energy change in the clubhouse then, and it's continued.”
About the only misstep Tuesday was getting Grant Taylor up and throwing after Vinnie Pasquantino’s grand slam cut the lead from seven to three in the ninth, but Taylor never got in the game. Having a strong showing such as Tuesday’s won’t change their focus for Wednesday, just as they didn’t change after giving up a big lead last Friday.
“We go the next day and play another nine innings,” Vargas said. “We have to be ready the next day. I don’t think having a tough game affects us. Obviously we get mad, we get pissed, but we find a way to recover the next day and win the game.”
“If the wins keep coming, the atmosphere and environment really changes,” Murakami said through interpreter Kenzo Yagi. “We are a bit more relaxed and concentrating on the next five games.”