White Sox 14, Royals 11: Four Homers, Then a Ninth-Inning Slam

Four hits, four homers, and a slam that did not finish it

September 22, 2026 - Kansas City - Miguel Vargas already had the line before first pitch. "It's the 2026 White Sox," he told MLB.com. "We don't give up." Then Chicago scored 14, Kansas City scored 11, and the slogan had to survive a ninth-inning grand slam.

The Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 14-11 at Kauffman Stadium. Partly cloudy. 73 degrees. Wind 5 mph in from right. First pitch 6:40 p.m. Attendance 15,785. The game lasted 2 hours, 45 minutes. Both clubs finished with 13 hits. Chicago hit four homers. Kansas City hit two, including the one that made a 14-7 game feel like a race.

Randal Grichuk went 4-for-5 with a homer, two doubles, four runs, and three RBI. He missed the cycle by a triple. Kyle Isbel dove for the seventh-inning double and trapped it. "Yeah, if it gets by him," Grichuk said. "I was just hoping it got down." Chase Meidroth drove in five. Vinnie Pasquantino drove in five for the other side and still lost.

Two in the first, then the middle of the order took over

Tommy Pham walked. Grichuk reached. Munetaka Murakami reached. Meidroth lined a single to left, Pham and Grichuk scoring. 2-0 before Tony Gonsolin had recorded three outs.

Brenton Doyle made it 3-0 in the second with his fourth homer, a fly to center. The third was the inning that told you this was not going to stay a 3-1 game. Grichuk and Murakami were on again. Meidroth hit his 16th, a fly to left-center. Three more. 6-0.

Nick Loftin answered with his eighth, a solo shot to left. 6-1. That was Kansas City's first dent. It did not last. Vargas reached in the fourth. Pham reached. Grichuk hit his 14th to center, a three-run drive that made it 9-1. Four White Sox homers on the night, the ninth time this season Chicago has hit four or more. The club is at 203 for the year.

Gonsolin lasted 2 2/3: four hits, five earned, three walks, five strikeouts, 63 pitches. Nolan Hoffman threw 1 1/3 scoreless after him. The rest of the damage sat on Daniel Lynch IV (6-6): four innings, seven hits, nine earned, three walks, two strikeouts, three homers, 78 pitches. Lynch inherited a 6-1 game and left it 14-4.

Five in the seventh, then Kansas City started throwing

The seventh was the inning Chicago put the game in a place a ninth-inning slam could not quite reach. Grichuk was on. Murakami hit his 33rd to right. 11-4. Meidroth scored on Vargas's walk. Andrew Benintendi lined a single to center, Doyle and Braden Montgomery scoring. 14-4.

Kansas City had already chipped. Salvador Perez singled Maikel Garcia home in the fourth. Loftin grounded Pasquantino in. Garcia grounded Carter Jensen home in the fifth. 9-4, then 14-4 after the seventh. The Royals still had two innings and a lot of hits left.

The eighth started the climb. Jac Caglianone was on. Garcia was on. Pasquantino doubled to right, Caglianone scoring. Chicago challenged fair or foul. The call stood. Josh Rojas hit a sacrifice fly. Michael Massey hit a ground-rule double, Pasquantino scoring. 14-7.

The ninth was louder. Tyler Tolbert reached. Caglianone reached. Garcia reached. Pasquantino hit a grand slam to right-center, his 15th. Tolbert scored. Caglianone scored. Garcia scored. 14-11. Luis Castillo had come on for the ninth and thrown 20 pitches. The MLB recap said Chicago got Grant Taylor up after the slam and never used him. Noah Schultz (4-9) had already thrown two scoreless innings for the win: no hits, one strikeout, 23 pitches.

Pasquantino finished 3-for-5 with the slam, a double, three runs, and five RBI. Bobby Witt Jr. went 3-for-4 with a double and did not score. Caglianone went 2-for-5 with a double and two runs. Garcia walked three times, scored three, and drove in one. The Royals put 11 on the board and still left three runs short.

Grichuk's four-hit night sat next to Meidroth's five RBI and Murakami's 33rd. Meidroth went 3-for-4 with a walk. Doyle went 2-for-5 with the homer and two runs. Vargas went 1-for-4 with a walk, a run, and an RBI. Colson Montgomery went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts. Kyle Teel went 0-for-4. The top of the order did the work. The bottom of the order watched it.

81 wins, and a slogan that survived the ninth

Chicago is 81-76. The White Sox will finish at .500 or better for the first time since 2022 after three straight 100-loss seasons. They have improved by 21 wins over last year. They sit one game behind the Guardians (82-75) in the AL Central after Cleveland's 3-2 win in Boston. Kansas City is 67-90.

The MLB recap framed Tuesday as the first of six games before the playoffs: two more in Kansas City, then three at home against the Rockies. If Chicago wins Wednesday and the Rangers (78-79) lose again to the Mets, the White Sox are in the postseason for the first time since 2021. Vargas did not want to talk about that as a finish line.

"We go the next day and play another nine innings," he said. "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."

Grichuk said the clubhouse loosened during last week's series in Cleveland, even while losing two of three. "We're relaxed, making jokes, keeping things light, but still playing the game hard between the lines," he said. Murakami, through interpreter Kenzo Yagi: "If the wins keep coming, the atmosphere and environment really changes. We are a bit more relaxed and concentrating on the next five games."

A 14-11 is a win you can lose in the ninth if you blink. Chicago did not blink. Pasquantino still got the loudest last swing. That is the version of Tuesday that left Kauffman: four homers, a four-hit night, and a slam that made 14 runs look necessary.

AthX Engine after the baseball

AthX Engine (our projection and scoring system) put Chicago at 20 team fantasy points, first on a 15-game Tuesday slate. Grichuk had 15 hitting FP. Pasquantino had 15 in a loss. Meidroth had 14. Murakami had 9. Kansas City finished at 7.

Fantasy points measure the night under platform scoring rules. Share prices also move with traders through dynamic pricing. They are related. They are not the same number.

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*Sources: ESPN recap and box score, MLB.com Gameday wrap, MLB.com schedule, and AthX Engine scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*