After a devastating series loss to the Guardians earlier in the week, it felt like the White Sox season was on the ropes. The team headed home for a crucial four-game series against the Tigers over the weekend, needing to bounce-back to ensure they could remain in position to head to the Postseason for the first time since 2021. Despite a brutal loss on Friday in which the team blew an 8-2 lead, the White Sox were able to take three of four from the Tigers, and they’ll head into their final six games with the playoffs at the forefront of their minds. Here’s where everything stands as the White Sox head to Kansas City for their final road series.
Chase knew right off the bat! 😤 pic.twitter.com/O9JygMOLAm
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) September 20, 2026
With six to play, the White Sox currently sit one game behind the Cleveland Guardians, who completed a sweep of the Athletics this weekend, in the AL Central. By winning the season series 7-6, the White Sox have earned the tiebreaker over Cleveland, so they only need to gain one game in the final six to win the division. The Guardians have a tough series this week and will head to Fenway Park to take on the Boston Red Sox. Boston clinched a playoff berth on Sunday but are still playing for seeding, so I don’t expect them to take their foot of the gas against Cleveland. The Guardians will then head to Kansas City to close out their regular season. The White Sox will complete their series against Kansas City, then head back home to take on the Rockies. The AL Central race is straightforward: gain one game on Cleveland between now and Sunday, and the White Sox are the AL Central champs.
The White Sox are in good position to reach postseason even without AL Central title
Even if the White Sox come up short in the division, results from this weekend have put them in a pretty good position to make the Postseason as a Wild Card team. The Houston Astros were swept at home by the Atlanta Braves over the weekend, pushing them into second place in the West and three-games behind the White Sox for the final Wild Card spot. With six games to play, the Astros would need to gain three games over that span, meaning the White Sox going 3-3 would force Houston to win out. Toronto lost two out of three to Texas over the weekend, giving them the same record as the Astros, but the White Sox having the tiebreaker over Toronto essentially puts them four games out and makes their path even more difficult. Because of this, the White Sox enter the week with a magic number of 4 to clinch a playoff spot.
With a pair of winnable series ahead of them, Fangraphs now has the White Sox playoff odds at 95.9%. The Guardians are still favored to win the division, but barring a collapse in their final six games, the White Sox should at least end up in a Wild Card series. With the Guardians now three-games ahead of the Rangers, the winner of the AL Central is looking extremely likely to be the second seed in the AL and receive a first round bye for the playoffs. That would set the White Sox up to play a road series against the AL West winner, either Texas or Houston, should they end up in the Wild Card. The White Sox went 4-2 against the Rangers this season, including winning a series in Texas in July, but struggled against Houston, going just 2-5.
The AL Central is very much in play for the White Sox with six games to go, and the team should continue to push to make it happen. Landing a first round bye and guaranteeing home games would be huge for a young team on the rise and would give a much-needed break to their pitching staff. Even if they can’t overcome the Guardians to win the division, it’s looking more and more likely that White Sox fans will get to see the team’s first Postseason action since 2021.
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