Kansas City Royals' Carter Jensen (22) is tagged out at third by Chicago White Sox third baseman Miguel Vargas as he tried to advance on a single by Bobby Witt Jr. during the first inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Chase Meidroth hit a three-run homer and had a career-high five RBIs, Randal Grichuk added a three-run shot among his four hits, and the Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 14-11 on Tuesday night to stay a game behind Cleveland in the AL Central.

The Guardians, who end the regular season with three games in Kansas City, beat the Red Sox 3-2 earlier Tuesday.

Brenton Doyle and Munetaka Murakami added home runs for the White Sox, who also helped their wild-card cause should they fail to catch Cleveland. They have two more games against the Royals before finishing with three against last-place Colorado.

Anthony Kay had a two-run lead before he even took the mound Tuesday night, and the Chicago left-hander ended up allowing four runs while pitching into the fifth. Noah Schultz (4-9) and the bullpen finished the game, though it wasn’t pretty — White Sox relievers coughed up three runs in the eighth and allowed Vinnie Pasquantino’s first career grand slam in the ninth.

Daniel Lynch IV wasn’t exactly pretty, either. He allowed a career-worst nine earned runs in just four innings for Kansas City.

Lynch was shaky from the start, walking Tommy Pham in the first and giving up a single to Grichuk before hitting Murakami with a 94 mph sinker. Meidroth followed with a two-run single, extending his on-base streak to 13, and the White Sox were on their way.

Doyle made it 3-0 when he sent Lynch’s first pitch of the second inning over the right-field wall. But the big blow came in the third, when Grichuk doubled and Murakami walked to set up Meidroth again. This time, the second-year second baseman hit changeup over the middle of the plate into the left-field seats to give the White Sox a 6-0 lead.

Grichuk’s own 3-run shot in the fourth came after Miguel Vargas hit a two-out single and Pham drew his second straight walk, while Murakami added his two-run homer during a five-run seventh that effectively put the game away.

Up next

White Sox RHP Erick Fedde (8-9, 3.90 ERA) starts Wednesday night, trying to continue a September hot streak that includes a 1.57 ERA over his last six appearances. RHP Seth Lugo (7-9, 5.06) gets the start for Kansas City.