CHICAGO – There was quite a raucous celebration coming from the White Sox clubhouse following a 6-5 victory over the Royals on Wednesday night at Rate Field.
That sort of party atmosphere is not unusual for the White Sox under the managerial reign of Will Venable, who encourages his team to relish each win. But this night featured something different.
At 21-21, the White Sox are once again a .500 team. That .500 mark might not seem like a major accomplishment, not when it’s the definition of breakeven.
But it’s a significant milestone for a White Sox squad moving from rebuild to competitive stature, marking the first time they have been at .500 this late in a season since they finished a maddeningly frustrating 2022 campaign at 81-81. The last time the White Sox saw .500 at any level was on March 31, 2025, when the team sat at 2-2 en route to 102 losses.
So in that boisterous celebration Wednesday, was there talk of hitting that elusive .500 mark?
“No,” said White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery with a laugh. “We know we are in a really good spot. We are not really looking at the standings or things like that. There’s still a lot of baseball left. It’s definitely a good achievement we can look at right now and see things are going in the right direction.”
“It's huge. Great team win,” White Sox starter Noah Schultz said. “I know that we have great team camaraderie and great team culture here. There's no surprise that we're winning and doing such a great job.”
Well, Mr. Schultz, it’s a little bit surprising.
This White Sox team started the 2026 campaign at 6-13, apparently moving toward another rough season in the midst of three straight 100-plus-loss efforts, including 121 losses in 2024. Since that point, the White Sox are 15-8, have moved within 1 1/2 games of Cleveland (24-21) for the American League Central lead and sit as the AL’s No. 2 Wild Card team.
They carry a four-game winning streak into Thursday’s series finale before a highly anticipated crosstown battle against the National League Central-leading Cubs, with huge crowds expected all weekend and Saturday already being sold out beyond standing room only. Wednesday’s win was another example of the team-first sort of mentality.
After grabbing a 3-0 lead through three, producing their 14th straight game where they have held the lead, the Royals (19-24) scored three in the fourth to tie the game after Schultz walked the bases loaded. Schultz walked five and struck out three over 4 1/3 innings before giving way to Tyler Davis, who earned his first career victory with 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
“Just having too many uncompetitive misses,” Schultz said. “Too many four-pitch walks, and I think I had two or three leadoff walks. That's not a way for success. Something I definitely need to clean up. We're going to definitely look at it in the next few days."
Jarred Kelenic broke the tie in the fifth with a two-out, two-run double off Seth Lugo. Montgomery, who had three hits, added his 11th home run leading off the seventh, which proved to be an important run when Bobby Witt Jr. hit a two-run blast off Seranthony Domínguez (10th save) in the ninth.
Let’s not forget Jordan Hicks, who pitched out of trouble in the top of the seventh. With runners on first and third and nobody out, Hicks struck out Maikel Garcia, Witt and Lane Thomas to keep the Royals off the board.
“Any time when you have runs like this, you've got to just take advantage and really just focus on what is clicking,” Kelenic said. “So the biggest thing is focusing on what is making us great right now, just so we can maintain it as much as we possibly can. We're going to go through some rough patches, but those rough patches won't be as long if we focus in on the small things we're doing right, right now."
“Your record matters and we want to keep going from here,” Venable said. “Obviously we want to keep playing good baseball and just continue to stack good days.”
Montgomery pointed to everyone being their true self as a major clubhouse factor. That demeanor contributes to the White Sox being far from satisfied at .500.
“When you are your true self and when you are at your full true self is when you are most confident. Confidence is definitely infectious,” Montgomery said. “So, everyone is feeding off each other.
“No one is in here afraid to make mistakes. If you are in that mindset, you play free and easy, and everyone is playing how they want to be playing.”