CHICAGO — Inserted the words “Chicago White Sox magic number” into Google on Tuesday and came up with a picture of Mike Vasil and his magic wand.

Oh well.

Suffice it to say, the White Sox are close to pulling off one of the most amazing sports stories in years — going to the postseason two years after setting a modern major league record with 121 losses.

It’s not a done deal, and after a 9-3 drubbing by the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday, the Sox stood only two games ahead of the Cleveland Guardians in the American League Central. Sean Burke allowed the first seven hitters on four doubles, two singles and a walk in a five-run first, ending the suspense early.

“Throwing away a game like that today down the stretch is frustrating,” Burke said.

There’s still a key three-game series with the Guardians next week, which could virtually clinch the division or push the Sox into the wild-card race.

Every game carries weight these days, and the pressure is on manager Will Venable and his players.

The Sox began their three-game series at Rate Field hours after a group of mayoral candidates met with residents and other politicians outside the ballpark to protest a plan to move an Amtrak maintenance facility to Bridgeport to make room for a potential new South Loop stadium for future Sox owner Justin Ishbia.

The intersection of the American League pennant race, the Chicago mayoral race and another stadium controversy is purely coincidental, unless, of course, you think Ishbia released his plan now to take advantage of the good vibes surrounding the Sox, and that the mayoral candidates knew it would be a hot-button topic that would get them on the 10 o’clock news.

Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf has stayed out of the stadium/Amtrak conversation, as is standard operating procedure for the longtime owner, who had steadfastly refused to talk about his Sox publicly. He even released a statement on Ozzie Guillén Day instead of giving a tribute at the ceremony, perhaps in fear of being booed. Guillén coaxed Sox fans into applauding Reinsdorf, a rarity these days.

These are strange days for Sox fans, who just want to see some home games in October again. The Sox have played only two home playoff games in front of real fans since 2008, and none since 2021.

And that brings us back to Venable and the Sox players, who are hoping to rectify that situation with the Guardians closing in. They were out of Tuesday’s Dog Day game before the first dog began to bark, trailing 5-0 seven batters in.

Burke started by issuing a double, a walk, an RBI double, a two-run double, another RBI double, a run-scoring single and another single.

So what happened?

“I don’t really know,” he said. “I think they hit some pitches on the fat part of the plate. They hit some pitches that were decent pitches. It was just one of those days where everything I threw they were hitting.”

Burke was lifted in the second, allowing seven runs in 1 2/3 innings. Venable said it was not a matter of fatigue or tipping pitches.

“Obviously this was a step back,” he said. “This is not what you’d expect and what you planned for today. You’ve just got to go to work. It’s the same thing with all of us and we’re trying to find the best version of ourselves.”

Even after five-plus months of the season, it’s crazy to think this Sox team could get to a World Series with some luck and pluck.

The rotation is lacking an ace, and two of their best hitters — Munetaka Murakami and Colson Montgomery — have been slumping for weeks. Murakami went 0 for 4 with four strikeouts Tuesday, and Montgomery was 0 for 4 with one strikeout.

None of general manager Chris Getz’s trade acquisitions have panned out, and the team lacks the experience of playoff-ready teams like the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and maybe even the Toronto Blue Jays, whom they could play in the AL Division Series.

Venable said it’s his job, like any other manager, to be a tone-setter for his players.

“If we’re uptight about it, they’re going to be uptight about it,” he said before Tuesday’s game. “We also just need to do everything we can to make sure that we’re still bringing joy and levity and humor to our environment and we’re not so serious. That’s not how we got here.”

Bringing in the always joyful and humor-filled Tommy Pham seemed to be a move that flew in the face of the idea of a tight-knit Sox clubhouse. But so far so good, even though he went on the injured list after only one game.

Sure, Pham berated an MLB Players Union rep in the clubhouse Tuesday when the poor kid made the grave mistake of asking if he wanted to fill out a players’ award ballot, like many of the rest of the players had done.

Pham went into a prolonged rant about the CBA and how the union did nothing for veteran players like him, and told the young rep to relay his feelings to MLBPA executive Bruce Meyer, who is negotiating for the players as they try to remain the last major sport without a salary cap. Unfortunately, no players were around to hear Pham’s rant, and the media just watched in amazement.

After his pregame press briefing, I asked Venable if this Sox team would be where it was without being a tight-knit bunch.

“We would not be in the same position,” he replied. “We would not win as many games. If you look at the things that are clear indicators of why this club has success, potentially at the top of the list is the clubhouse environment, the clubhouse culture, and how they support each other on a daily basis.”

Venable said he has guidelines, but the players have to police themselves. He considered Andrew Benintendi and Randal Grichuk as the “gatekeepers” of how “we conduct our business.”

I told Venable I asked because of the narrative that Pham could upset the precious clubhouse chemistry. The media, including myself, often write about “chemistry” without really knowing what goes on behind closed doors.

Venable said that speculation came “from people who don’t understand who Tommy is.” He coached Pham in Boston, and if he felt Pham would spoil the camaraderie, he wouldn’t have signed off on Getz’s move.

“I value what we have in this clubhouse as much or more than anything that we have,” Venable said. “As we’re introducing any person to that group, that’s something that’s under very high scrutiny and we want to make sure we get that right. In Tommy’s case, I was excited about the opportunity to bring him into this group because I know what he brings.

“I get it. A lot of times in baseball guys have developed reputations broadly, and certainly I get that. There are so many guys on teams I’ve been on that we traded for, and you hear terrible things. You’re like, ‘Where did this come from? This guy is awesome.’

“So you really never know until you know somebody, and I’ve known Tommy from the past. He’s a really good guy and speaks up and is honest about his values. He’s got really good values that are in line with my values and in line with the organization’s values. We love him.”

It’s going to be an interesting stretch run, to say the least.

Let’s sit back and see how they respond to the pressure.

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