Maikel Garcia helps Royals thwart White Sox's chance to clinch a playoff spot

Jaylon Thompson, The Kansas City Star on Sep 23, 2026

Published in Baseball

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Royals continued their role as spoiler Wednesday night against the Chicago White Sox at Kauffman Stadium.

Chicago entered with a chance to clinch a postseason berth. The club needed a win and a Texas Rangers loss to punch its ticket.

However, the Royals had other ideas in a 5-4 victory.

Kansas City raced to an early lead in the first inning. Carter Jensen and Bobby Witt Jr. recorded singles to open the game. Jac Caglianone moved them into scoring position and Maikel Garcia drove them home with a two-run single.

The Royals took an early lead. It was a near-perfect start as White Sox opener Bryan Hudson lasted 1/3 of an inning. Kansas City tallied two additional runs as Vinnie Pasquantino added an RBI single and scored on an error.

Royals starter Seth Lugo was handed a four-run advantage. However, the White Sox quickly erased the deficit in the third inning.

Lugo ran into major trouble. He allowed two singles to Chase Meidroth and Braden Montgomery as the top of the White Sox lineup lurked.

After two scoreless innings, Lugo gave up the lead. He hit Sam Antonacci and loaded the bases. This led to Kyle Teel adding a two-run single and Miguel Vargas adding an RBI of his own.

Munetaka Murakami finally provided the equalizer. He hit an RBI double as Chicago stormed back to tie the game.

Lugo was pulled after 3 1/3 innings. He allowed four runs on seven hits while posting 41 of 72 pitches for strikes.

In his last eight starts, Lugo has allowed four or more runs five times. And he finishes his 2026 campaign with a 5.17 ERA in 172 1/3 innings.

The Royals turned to their bullpen to cover the remaining frames. It was a collaborative approach as Anthony Gose, Connor Thomas, Lucas Erceg and Steven Cruz kept the White Sox offense from scoring.

Thomas tossed two clean frames. Erceg followed with a scoreless eighth after the Royals took a 5-4 lead on Garcia’s go-ahead RBI double. And in the ninth, Cruz closed it out to secure his eighth save.

The White Sox recorded two hits after the fourth inning. Meanwhile, Garcia finished 3 for 3 and accounted for three of the Royals’ five runs.

Garcia entered with one hit in 18 at-bats since returning from a left hamstring strain. However, he looked sharp against the White Sox. And Wednesday’s effort gave him four RBIs in the home series.

The Royals improved to 68-90 on the season. They will look to win the series outright Thursday afternoon.

Chicago dropped to 81-77. The club must wait another day to potentially clinch a postseason berth for the first time since the 2021 campaign.

What’s next

Royals right-hander Randy Dobnak (3-4, 3.08 ERA) will start Thursday against the White Sox with first pitch set for 2:10 p.m. ET. Chicago has not named a starter for the contest.

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