Chicago White Sox at Kansas City Royals: Final Score & Recap

The Kansas City Royals defeated the Chicago White Sox 5-4 on September 23, 2026, at Kauffman Stadium, erasing an early four-run deficit to claim a victory that the DiamondIQ model's estimate put at just 46 percent for the home side before first pitch and at 100 percent by the final out. Chicago appeared to seize control in the third inning, when Munetaka Murakami delivered a double off Seth Lugo that swung win probability 14.5 points in the White Sox's favor, and Miguel Vargas followed with a single worth another 12.9 points, helping Chicago build a 4-0 lead through three frames. The momentum reversed sharply in the fourth, however, when Vargas grounded into a double play off Anthony Gose, a sequence that cost Chicago 16.7 percentage points of win probability and represented the single most damaging play of the game in either direction.

Kansas City chipped away and delivered its decisive blow in the bottom of the seventh, when Maikel Garcia doubled off Hagen Smith to swing win probability 14.1 points toward the Royals and push the go-ahead run across. Garcia finished as the game's top offensive performer by the DiamondIQ model's accounting, posting a WPA of plus-20.6 percent and a RE24 of plus-2.6, while Kyle Teel contributed plus-14.5 percent WPA and plus-1.7 RE24 to support the Kansas City comeback. On the pitching side, the Royals' bullpen shouldered the bulk of the win-probability work, with Sean Newcomb, Connor Thomas, and Steven Cruz generating plus-16.0, plus-15.4, and plus-15.2 percent WPA respectively as they protected the one-run lead through the final innings and secured the Royals' comeback win.