Sports

In a Big Chicago Baseball Afternoon, Both the White Sox and Cubs Clinch Playoff Spots

Both of Chicago’s baseball teams are heading to the playoffs, with the Cubs and Sox each clinching their spots Thursday afternoon. 

On the North Side, the Cubs clinched their second straight postseason berth with a 2-1 victory over the Miami Marlins to assure themselves of one of the NL’s three wild card berths. On the road, the White Sox became the first team to follow consecutive 100-loss seasons by reaching the playoffs with a 9-1 throttling of the Kansas City Royals to ensure no worse than one of the three AL wild-card spots for the postseason.

Cubs

Chicago Cubs' Seiya Suzuki celebrates his home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Thursday , Sept. 24, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo / Melissa Tamez)

Seiya Suzuki homered for the Cubs (88-7) in a game that saw Pete Crow-Armstrong joining the rarefied 40-40 club by stealing his 40th base to accompany his league-leading 45 home runs. 

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.

Crow-Armstrong hit his 45th homer during Sunday’s 9-1 win at Cincinnati, extending his career high. The 24-year-old drew a leadoff walk from Tyler Phillips in the first inning and swiped second base on the next pitch to Suzuki for his 40th steal in 47 attempts. Fans chanted “MVP” as the Wrigley Field videoboard proclaimed the feat.

Ohtani was the previous player with a 40-40 season, hitting 54 homers and stealing 59 bases for the 2024 Dodgers. Acuña hit 41 homers and swiped 73 bases for Atlanta in 2023. Alfonso Soriano (2006 with Washington), Alex Rodriguez (1998 with Seattle) and Barry Bonds (1996 with San Francisco) are the other 40-40 players.

Matthew Boyd (10-5) allowed one run, five hits and two walks over seven innings, and Ryan Zeferjahn pitched a perfect ninth for his seventh save to finish a five-hitter.

Ian Happ tripled off Jack Ralston (0-2) to start the sixth and came home three pitches later on Nico Hoerner’s single, breaking a 1-1 tie.

Up next, the Cubs play a day-night doubleheader Friday at Boston. The opener was shifted to Sunday by Major League Baseball because of a forecast for a storm.

White Sox

Chicago White Sox starting pitcher David Sandlin throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo / Charlie Riedel)

While the South Siders clinched at least a Wild Card spot, they could still win the AL Central. 

The White Sox began the day one game behind the Cleveland Guardians.

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.

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.

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.

Up next, the White Sox finish the regular season against the Rockies with RHP Sean Burke (10-7, 3.40 ERA) starting Friday night.

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