Down to their last strike, clinging to a small lead over the Cleveland Guardians in the American League Central, Randal Grichuk hit a two-run home run to give the Chicago White Sox a 6-5 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday night. The White Sox survived another poor outing from Luis Castillo.

The White Sox rallied from 3-0 and 4-1 deficits to earn the win. Bases-loaded walks by Colson Montgomery and Munetaka Murakami drove in the first two White Sox runs. Grichuk drove in the third White Sox run on a double play and Tristan Peters' single tied the game at four. A Leo Bernal HR in the eighth gave St. Louis a 5-4 lead entering the ninth. 

The White Sox lead the AL Central by 1.5 games after their win at the Cardinals, and Cleveland lost at Minnesota on Saturday night. The White Sox have ensured they enter a three-game series at Cleveland beginning on Monday as the AL Central leader.

Cleveland decreased the White Sox's season-high AL Central lead of 5.5 games on Aug. 16 to a half-game advantage entering Saturday. The White Sox ended a season-high four-game losing streak with the win on Saturday. The White Sox also entered Saturday with nine losses in their previous 12 games. 

Looking ahead for the White Sox

Grichuk's HR should give the White Sox confidence as they enter the series at Cleveland as the AL Central leader. The White Sox travel to Cleveland with six wins and four losses against the Guardians in 2026. Cleveland and the White Sox split a four-game series at Progressive Field in July.

After playing at Cleveland, the White Sox return home for a four-game series against Detroit, play three games at last-place Kansas City and return home to host Colorado for the final three games of the regular season. Colorado has the worst record in MLB entering Sunday.