MLB Baseball
2026-09-23 - Chicago White Sox at Kansas City Royals
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States : Major League Baseball
Wednesday 23rd September 2026 - Scheduled 7:40pm EST
12:40am (British Time)
Preview
The final week of the regular season will see teams focusing on the 'magic number' needed to earn a spot in the Playoff field.
Teams like the Chicago White Sox (81-76) have a couple of pathways into the post-season as they continue to chase the Divisional crown, but also focusing on moving clear in the Wild Card race. A third win in a row leaves the White Sox a game behind the Cleveland Guardians in the American League Central, while they are 3 games clear in the third spot of the Wild Card race.
A couple more wins may secure a return to the Playoff faster than a transitioning White Sox team may have expected, but winning the Division would likely mean avoiding playing in the Wild Card Round. A strong end to the season may yet secure the Number 2 Seed behind the Tampa Bay Rays and that is the focus for the White Sox who have moved out of a slump.
After a brief rally last month, the Kansas City Royals (67-90) have lost eight of the last nine games, including the last five in a row when dropping the opener of this three game set.
The Royals can still have a big impact in the Division with the last five games in the regular season seeing them play the White Sox twice and the Cleveland Guardians three times, but finding the right motivation is going to be challenging.
Kansas City will hand the ball to Seth Lugo in what could be the veteran's last start in 2026. The pitcher has a 7-9 record and 5.06 ERA in thirty-one starts this season and those will represent Seth Lugo's poorest numbers since becoming a full time starter in the Major League.
Since the start of August, Seth Lugo has made nine starts for the Kansas City Royals and he has a 3-3 record with a 7.35 ERA, while his most recent start lasted 5 Innings as he gave up four runs to take the decision loss against the Houston Astros.
Seth Lugo has pitched twice against the Chicago White Sox and been handed the decision loss both times- he suffered a tough luck loss at home when allowing a single earned run into the 7th Inning, but the second start saw Lugo allow five runs in 5 Innings thrown in taking the second decision loss on the road.
The Chicago White Sox will counter by using an opener and then moving through the bullpen as they look to keep some of the starting pitchers as fresh as possible.
With that in mind, Bryan Hudson is expected to be given the ball first off with his 5-4 record and 3.03 ERA from sixty-seven appearances made this season. Only eight of those have been in starts, but the last of those saw Hudson almost complete 2 Innings before being removed and he held the Minnesota Twins scoreless.
Bryan Hudson has pitched 3 Innings against the Kansas City Royals in three different games and situations in 2026 and he has yet to give up a run against this Divisional rival.
The White Sox won the opener of this series 14-11 and have won eight of the eleven regular season games against the Kansas City Royals.
Prediction
These two teams are trending in very different directions heading into the final few days of the regular season.
The Chicago White Sox are looking more and more likely to be playing on beyond Sunday, and they can keep the pressure on the Cleveland Guardians by winning this game.
The Pick :
Kansas City Royals 4-6 Chicago White Sox
