White Sox turn attention to wild card after Guardians win AL Central

Chicago White Sox first baseman Munetaka Murakami. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

White Sox turn attention to wild card after Guardians win AL Central

By Alan Rubenstein | Last updated Sep 26, 2026 11:09 PM ET

The Chicago White Sox's 9-6 loss to the Colorado Rockies and the 11-5 Cleveland Guardians win over the Kansas City Royals ended the American League Central race. Cleveland clinched its third consecutive AL Central title, fourth in the last five seasons and seventh since 2016.

The White Sox could have forced Cleveland to win on Sunday to earn the AL Central title. After winning the season series over Cleveland with seven wins to six losses, the White Sox would have won the AL Central tiebreaker with the Guardians.

The White Sox will play in the best-of-three wild-card series at the AL Western Division Champion. The Texas Rangers beat the Minnesota Twins 6-2 on Saturday to improve to 80 wins and 81 losses. The Houston Astros are at the A's this weekend. Houston owns the tiebreaker against Texas by winning the season series 9-4.

Houston beat the White Sox three games to one in the 2021 Division Series. That was their second postseason meeting after the White Sox swept Houston in the 2005 World Series before the Astros moved to the American League.

Thought the #WhiteSox would get this to the last day of the season. They won’t win the AL Central, which is why clinching a berth was so important.

They’re in the playoffs. It’s incredible.

They’ll play an AL West team with a worse record.

Get to the ALDS so fans get a game
— Ryan McGuffey (@RyanMcGuffey) September 27, 2026

White Sox against Houston and Texas in 2026

The White Sox won two games and lost five against Houston in 2026. Houston won three out of the four games played at Daikin Park from Aug. 31 through Sept. 3. The Astros outscored the White Sox 15-10 in the four-game series.

The White Sox won four of the six games against Texas in 2026. The season-series win included the White Sox winning two out of three games at Texas. Texas outscored the White Sox 15-14 in the three-game series, with their only victory 10-0 on July 21.

Houston and the White Sox are similar offensively. The Astros are second in Major League Baseball in home runs, and the White Sox are sixth. Texas is 16th in MLB in HRs. None of the three teams have exceptional pitching.

The White Sox are 15th in MLB with a 4.14 earned run average, Texas is 22nd at 4.30, and Houston is 25th at 4.50. With bullpens playing a bigger role in the postseason, that should be an advantage for the White Sox. The White Sox can shrink their rotation in the playoffs, and they lead MLB in bullpen innings.

Alan Rubenstein

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