MLB Tuesday round-up: Chicago White Sox avoid becoming the league’s worst ever modern team – for now

By Wayne Sterling and George Ramsay, CNN

(CNN) — The Chicago White Sox narrowly avoided setting the modern MLB record for the most losses in a season Tuesday with a home win against the Los Angeles Angels.

Down 2-0 heading into the bottom of the eighth inning, the White Sox scored three runs and went on to win 3-2, securing their 37th win of the season.

With 120 losses, Chicago is tied with the 1962 expansion New York Mets for the most losses in a single season in baseball’s modern era, which dates back to 1901.

Fans at Guaranteed Rate Field chanted for owner Jerry Reinsdorf to sell the team and booed when the game ended having hoped to witness a record defeat.

“It’s been a long season,” said White Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi, per AP. “I think that people here tonight were maybe trying to see history. But they’re going to have to wait one more day. Maybe.”

It was Benintendi who hit the game-winning, two-out single in the eighth to ensure that the White Sox avoided unwanted history – though Chicago still has five games remaining this season to set the record.

“It’s not something we’re proud of,” general manager Chris Getz said before the game. “There’s a myriad of reasons why we stand here today with the record that we have. Now, with that being said, personally, I view this as a tremendous opportunity to build something.”

The White Sox, who snapped a five-game losing streak with the win, and the Angels (63-94) play again on Wednesday.

Astros clinch AL West title

Elsewhere, the Houston Astros clinched their seventh AL West division title in the last eight seasons thanks to a 4-3 win against the Seattle Mariners.

After a slow start to the season, the win marked the first time in franchise history that Houston has won four straight AL West titles, while the team will also be making a record-extending eighth consecutive postseason appearance.

Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker and Jason Heyward all hit home runs for the Astros at Minute Maid Park, the latter slamming a two-run homer in the fifth inning to hand his team the lead.

Houston was 10 games behind the Mariners in the AL West in June before turning its season around with a seven-game winning streak.

“Obviously, we got off to a tough start,” said Bregman, “but everyone just kept working, kept their heads down and stayed focused. Very proud of this group. It’s just a group of guys that know how to win games. It’s in our culture.”

Guardians clinch first-round bye

Having clinched a playoff berth and the AL Central division title last week, the Cleveland Guardians have now secured a first-round bye and home-field advantage in the American League Divisional Series.

The Guardians defeated the Cincinnati Reds 6-1 at Progressive Field Tuesday to retain the Ohio Cup and will now look to catch the New York Yankees (92-65), currently the top-seeded team in the American League.

“It’s incredible,” said general manager Stephen Vogt. “Obviously, we worked really hard to get here, postseason checked, the division, now with the bye – it’s just so great for these guys, they’ve earned every bit of this.”

Cleveland’s players will now have five days of rest next week instead of contesting the AL Wild Card Series, with the division series beginning on October 5.

The Yankees, meanwhile, can still clinch the AL East division with victory against the Baltimore Orioles Wednesday, but it was the O’s who were celebrating after the teams faced each other Tuesday, winning 5-3 to clinch a postseason berth.

The win, together with the Minnesota Twins’ loss to the Miami Marlins, means that Baltimore will appear in back-to-back postseasons for the first time in 27 years, despite Aaron Judge hitting an MLB-leading 56th home run.

Only the Orioles winning their five remaining games and the Yankees losing theirs would see Baltimore top the division.

“I’m really excited to see what this group of players does now after having a bit of a rockier regular season going into the playoffs,” said general manager Mike Elias.

“We’ve got all of our guys back healthy, the line-up looks good and I hope we can put some momentum together before we get into the playoffs.”

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