KANSAS CITY -- Erick Fedde was thinking about the White Sox near possibilities to make the playoffs when he took the ball against the Royals Wednesday night at Kauffman Stadium.
And he didn’t try to hide those postseason thoughts following a 5-4 setback to the Royals.
“Of course. I’m excited when I get to pitch in games like these,” Fedde said. “You know it’s an opportunity to do something special and be a part of something and I want the ball in as many of those games as I can get. I think it’s on everyone’s mind.
“If they said it’s not, they would be lying.”
Fedde hurled 2 2/3 scoreless innings, dropping his ERA to 3.83 in what could be his last regular-season game of the 2026 season. He did so after taking a Carter Jensen single at 104.5 mph off his right calf in the second inning.
X-rays were clean and he stayed in the game. Fedde was noticeably limping as he walked to his locker to speak with the media, but he needs to work out the muscle soreness to be all right.
The White Sox will be all right as well, despite falling to 81-77 overall. But make no mistake, it was a tough setback.
Going into the night, they needed a victory and a Texas loss to clinch their first postseason appearance since winning the 2021 American League Central title. Texas dropped a 9-2 decision to the Mets, but the White Sox couldn’t come through.
Cleveland (82-76) entered the night with a one-game lead over the White Sox in the AL Central, although the White Sox possessed the tiebreaker by virtue of a 7-6 season-series edge. Boston topped the Guardians, 1-0, but the White Sox stayed one game behind. Chicago still maintains a three-game lead over Texas for the final Wild Card spot.
“It’s baseball. Come back ready to play tomorrow. Today’s over with, how can we learn from it? Be ready to win tomorrow,” catcher Kyle Teel said. “That’s the only way to be, that’s how winning teams are.
“You can’t dwell on the past. You can only learn from it. It’s a [screw] it mentality, what do we got next and that’s it.”
Kansas City jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning, with all four of the runs (three earned) charged to opener Bryan Hudson. That fourth run came when shortstop Colson Montgomery tried to take away an infield hit from Michael Massey, and then first baseman Munetaka Murakami appeared to miss Montgomery’s jump throw allowing Vinnie Pasquantino to just barely make it home.
The lead lasted until the third, when the White Sox started their four-run, game-tying rally with a bunt single by Chase Meidroth against Seth Lugo, who had retired the first six hitters. Teel singled home two, Miguel Vargas added a run-scoring single and Murakami doubled home the game-tying run.
A bases-loaded, one-out situation in the fourth turned into an inning-ending double play from Vargas against Anthony Gose. Sam Antonacci flew out deep to center against Steven Cruz with Braden Montgomery on first to end the contest.
“We had opportunities,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “Credit the guys for loading the bases there, for Vargas, really good stuff. Continue to have at-bats where we're grinding and doing everything we can to get on base. Just one of those days where we just didn't get that big hit.”
Maikel Garcia’s two-out double off Hagen Smith in the seventh scored Bobby Witt Jr. with the game-winning run. The White Sox elected to pitch to the right-handed hitting Garcia with first base open and the left-handed hitting Pasquantino on-deck.
Four games remain for the White Sox, beginning with Thursday afternoon’s series finale against Kansas City and then three at home vs. the Rockies.
General manager Chris Getz made the afternoon trip to Kansas City Wednesday for the potential playoff festivities, joined by assistant general managers Carlos Rodriguez and Josh Barfield, as fellow assistant general manager Jin Wong already was in Kansas City. They need one more win or one more Texas loss to start the party.
“Being that close is exciting. We look to earn that tomorrow,” Fedde said. “It’s everything you could hope for. You get the ball. You feel like this means a lot to this franchise, the fans that have gone through a lot these last couple of years.
“I was here in ’24 [for 121 losses]. It feels like we owe this to everyone to keep playing hard and go as deep as we can in this thing.”