WASHINGTON (Interstat) — Shane Smith took a perfect game into the sixth inning, Brooks Baldwin homered and drove in three, and the Chicago White Sox limited the Washington Nationals to one hit in a 8-0 rout Sunday in the season finale for both last-place teams.

Miguel Vargas and Dominic Fletcher also homered for the White Sox, who concluded their first season under manager Will Venable at 60-102. It was a 19-game improvement after the franchise went 41-121 in 2024 to set the modern record for single-season losses. Washington closed at 66-96, a decline of five games after going 71-91 the last two seasons.

Smith was dominant in his final start of the year. The right-hander did not allow a baserunner until Brady House singled on a line drive to right field with one out in the sixth inning. Smith finished with eight strikeouts over six innings, improving his record to 7-7.

The White Sox offense provided more than enough support, scoring in four different innings against Nationals starter Brad Lord and the Washington bullpen. Vargas got Chicago started quickly, launching a two-run homer to left-center field in the first inning after Colson Montgomery had drawn a two-out walk.

Chicago broke the game open with a three-run fourth. Baldwin led off the inning with a solo shot to right-center, his 11th of the season. After Lenyn Sosa singled, Fletcher connected for a two-run homer to right field, his first of the year, to extend the lead to 5-0.

The White Sox added two more in the fifth. Kyle Teel and Montgomery singled to open the inning, and Vargas walked to load the bases. After a strikeout, Baldwin cleared the bases with a double to center field, scoring Teel and Montgomery.

Chicago capped the scoring in the eighth inning when Sosa doubled, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on Michael A. Taylor’s groundout.

Lord took the loss for Washington, falling to 5-10. He was charged with seven runs on eight hits over four-plus innings.

The White Sox bullpen preserved the one-hitter with three perfect innings of relief. Jonathan Cannon struck out two in the seventh, Jordan Leasure struck out two in the eighth and Tyler Alexander struck out one in the ninth to complete the combined shutout before an announced crowd of 22,473 at Nationals Park. The game time was 2 hours, 23 minutes.

The victory gave the White Sox a 2-1 series win after the teams split the first two games of the weekend set. On Saturday, the Nationals won 6-5, and on Friday, the White Sox prevailed 10-9.

Despite finishing with the worst record in the American League, the White Sox showed significant progress in Venable’s first season. Washington, meanwhile, took a step back in the standings after two consecutive 71-win campaigns.