WASHINGTON (Interstat) — Shane Smith carried a perfect game into the sixth inning and the Chicago White Sox concluded a difficult season on a dominant note, limiting the Washington Nationals to one hit in an 8-0 victory Sunday in the finale for both last-place teams.

Smith was flawless through five innings before Brady House broke up the bid with a clean single to right field leading off the sixth. The right-hander finished with eight strikeouts over six dominant innings, combining with three relievers on the one-hitter before an afternoon crowd of 22,473 at Nationals Park.

The White Sox offense provided more than enough support, launching three home runs in a game that took 2 hours, 23 minutes. Brooks Baldwin homered and drove in three runs, while Miguel Vargas and Dominic Fletcher also went deep.

The victory gave the White Sox a 60-102 record, concluding their first season under manager Will Venable. It marked a significant 19-game improvement for the franchise, which set the modern-era record for single-season losses with a 41-121 campaign in 2024.

Washington finished at 66-96, a five-game decline after posting identical 71-91 records the previous two seasons.

Chicago struck immediately against Nationals starter Brad Lord, the losing pitcher who fell to 5-10. After two quick outs in the first, Colson Montgomery worked a walk and Vargas followed by launching a 1-1 pitch over the left-center field wall for his 16th home run, staking the White Sox to a 2-0 lead.

The game remained tight until the fourth, when the White Sox broke it open. Baldwin led off the inning with a solo shot to right-center, his 11th of the year. After Lenyn Sosa reached on an infield single, Fletcher connected for his first home run of the season, a two-run blast to right field that extended Chicago’s advantage to 5-0 and chased Lord from the game.

Chicago added two more runs in the fifth against reliever Jackson Rutledge. Kyle Teel and Montgomery singled to put runners on first and second, and after a walk to Vargas loaded the bases, Baldwin delivered a two-run double to center field, scoring both Teel and Montgomery.

The White Sox capped the scoring in the eighth when Sosa doubled, advanced to third on a groundout and came home on Michael A. Taylor’s groundout.

While the White Sox offense produced 10 hits, Smith and the bullpen were the story. After House’s single in the sixth, Smith induced a forceout and struck out James Wood to end his outing. He improved to 7-7 with the victory.

The Chicago bullpen was equally dominant, with Jonathan Cannon, Jordan Leasure and Tyler Alexander each working a perfect inning of relief. Cannon and Leasure each recorded two strikeouts, while Alexander added one.

Washington’s offense never threatened, managing only the one hit while striking out 13 times. The Nationals failed to advance a runner past first base.

The game concluded a three-game series between the teams, with Washington having won 6-5 on Saturday after Chicago took the opener 10-9 on Friday. The result also defied pregame projections from Interstat, which had given Washington a 55.9% probability to win and projected a 3-2 Nationals victory.

For the White Sox, the lopsided win provided a positive conclusion to a season that, while still finishing with the second-worst record in baseball, showed measurable progress from the historic struggles of 2024. The Nationals, meanwhile, head into the offseason after a step backward in their rebuilding process.