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White Sox rout Cleveland to clinch AL Central title
Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson (7) and catcher Yasmani Grandal (24) celebrate after the White Sox beat the Cleveland Indians and clinched the American League Central Division at Progressive Field. Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

White Sox rout Cleveland to clinch AL Central title

The Chicago White Sox knew well ahead of Thursday's doubleheader at the Cleveland Indians that they would soon clinch the American League Central title. Chicago nevertheless did it in style and did so at the rival club. 

Chicago downed Cleveland 7-2 at Progressive Field in the opening game of Thursday's twin bill to put an end to a race that stopped being competitive weeks, if not months, ago:

As Jesse Rogers noted for ESPN, the White Sox improved to 86-66 and to 11.5 games up on Cleveland (74-77) to clinch their first division crown since 2008. They wasted little time in putting the matter to bed, as All-Star shortstop Tim Anderson went deep in each of the contest's first two innings. Outfielders Luis Robert and Eloy Jimenez hit back-to-back home runs in the second, and Chicago exited the top half of that frame with a 7-0 advantage. 

The visitors didn't need to cross the plate again. 

Along with seeing each other again Thursday evening, the White Sox and Cleveland will complete a series through the weekend. Cleveland plays its final home game Sunday afternoon before the franchise changes its name to the Guardians at some point after the season finale on Oct. 3. 

Zac Wassink

Zac Wassink is a longtime sports news writer and PFWA member who began his career in 2006 and has had his work featured on Yardbarker, MSN, Yahoo Sports and Bleacher Report. He is also a football and futbol aficionado who is probably yelling about Tottenham Hotspur at the moment and who chanted for Matt Harvey to start the ninth inning of Game 5 of the 2015 World Series at Citi Field. You can find him on X at @ZacWassink

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