Grichuk and Doyle go deep in 3rd, power playoff-bound White Sox past Rockies 4-2 in season finale

CHICAGO (AP) — Randal Grichuk and Brenton Doyle homered in Chicago’s four-run third inning, powering the playoff-bound White Sox over the Colorado Rockies 4-2 in Sunday’s regular-season finale.

The White Sox finished at 84-78, one game behind division champion Cleveland in the AL Central. They will open a best-of-three AL Wild Card Series on Tuesday at Houston.

Chicago managed a 24-win improvement over 2025 when it was last in the AL at 60-102, becoming the first team to qualify for the postseason after consecutive 100-loss seasons. Chicago’s 84 wins set a record for a team that had lost 100 or more games in three previous seasons.

Cole Carrigg hit a solo shot for the Rockies, who lost 18 of their last 22 and finished 58-104, worst in the majors for a second straight season. Colorado was 43-119 in 2025, setting a franchise record for losses.

Colorado became the first team with four straight 100-loss seasons since the 1962-65 New York Mets.

The White Sox peaked at nine games over .500 (72-63) on Aug. 29 and had a 4 1/2-game lead in the AL Central. But they went 12-15 the rest of the way while Cleveland surged to its third straight division title.

The White Sox’s crowd of of 29,767 on Sunday gave them a season attendance of 1,986,419, an average of 24,524 compared 18,072 in 2025.

Anthony Kay (10-9) allowed one run and five hits in five innings for his first win since Aug. 8. Trevor Richards tossed the final 3 1/3 innings, yielding a run on one hit for his second save.

Sam Antonacci doubled among two hits.

Kyle Freeland (4-12) yielded four runs on seven hits in four innings.

Grichuk’s homer was his 15th with the White Sox, who signed veteran in May after the Yankees released him. Doyle, acquired the deadline from Colorado, lofted his sixth down the left field line three batters later.

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White Sox: Open their best-of-three AL Wild Card series at Houston on Tuesday and had not announced a starter.