CHICAGO – Are you in the market for a slogan to encompass this amazing, bordering on astonishing 2026 White Sox season?
Well, third baseman Miguel Vargas might have come up with one prior to a 14-11 victory over the Royals on Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium. Vargas was asked about the White Sox coming back from Friday’s tough loss to the Tigers, in which they blew a five-run lead and a six-run lead en route to an 11-8 setback, only to now win three games in a row.
Without missing a beat, Vargas put forth the following:
“It’s the 2026 White Sox,” said the reigning American League Player of the Week. “We don’t give up.”
Vargas has espoused that theory many times throughout this season, even telling MLB.com recently how he got goosebumps when reminded of talking about his team playing 27 outs in every game and gaining an advantage because of that attitude. But Tuesday’s first of six playoff games before the playoffs, with two more in Kansas City and then three at home against the Rockies, was all about a true offensive outburst.
For the ninth time this season, the White Sox had four-plus home runs to give them 203 as a team. That list includes Chase Meidroth (who drove in five), Brenton Doyle, Randal Grichuk and Munetaka Murakami, who launched his 33rd in the seventh inning. Grichuk finished with four hits and was a triple away from hitting for the cycle, which almost became a reality when Royals center fielder Kyle Isbel dove for his seventh-inning double and trapped the baseball.
The White Sox moved to 81 wins for the season, meaning they will finish at .500 or above for the first time since 2022 after losing 100-plus games in three straight seasons. They have improved by 21 games over last season and 40 over a dreadful '24 campaign.
Their bigger focus still is reaching the postseason, and they could potentially clinch as early as Wednesday pending the results of Houston and Texas' games on Tuesday. They remained one game behind the Guardians (82-75) in the AL Central, as Cleveland edged the Red Sox 3-2 in Boston.
Having a great showing such as Tuesday’s won’t change their focus for Wednesday, just as they didn’t change after giving up a big lead last Friday.
“We go the next day and play another nine innings,” Vargas said. “We have to be ready the next day. I don’t think having a tough game affects us. Obviously we get mad, we get pissed, but we find a way to recover the next day and win the game.”